LABOR'S diluted poker machine reforms allowing punters to voluntarily set bet limits are poised to go before parliament today after the Greens last night declared their support.

from politicoz ….

Parliament resumed this week. The polls have shifted, giving the Gillard government breathing space, but if anyone was expecting that to alter the parliamentary dynamic they were sadly mistaken.

from Crikey …..

by my friend, Vacy Vlazna

The powers of Australia's domestic spy agency, ASIO, are rotten at their core, could be used against innocent Australians by an unscrupulous government and should be repealed, the law professor George Williams has warned.

And another thing...

Peter Reith who is so eager for the NSW Liberals (conservatives) to stop the small liberals (small L liberals [conservatives]) take over, is telling them that the central power-brokers like him know best... He considers himself of course as a "power-broker" not as part of the ugly "faceless men" that do the political deals in the Labor camp...

from Politicoz ….

David Marr put the cat amongst the pigeons with his Quarterly Essay on Tony Abbott.

from Crikey …..

The dead entertainer haunting the BBC and the UK government

from politicoz …..

Cabinet minister Craig Emerson said Prime Minister Julia Gillard was proving resilient.

Tax is much in the news of late. Treasurer Wayne Swan has been telling us the Minerals Resource Rent Tax is working precisely as it should - not raising any tax. The hospital in Yes Minister worked perfectly too - it didn't have any patients.

The Great Barrier Reef is dying...