Time was running out for Libya's revolution last night as Muammar Gaddafi's forces routed rebels in the east of the country, driving them into retreat from the town of Brega under a rain of rockets and shells, and opening up the road to the principal opposition stronghold, Benghazi.

Julia Gillard has taken a double whammy in the latest poll.

The Prime Minister's approval rating has reached its lowest point, apparently over her carbon tax plan. And she is losing to Kevin Rudd as preferred Labor leader.

Today's Herald-Nielsen poll confirms that the Labor Party remains near its historic low point among voters and would decisively lose an election held today.

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL has rebuffed the head of the Bureau of Meteorology, who had said Australia's highest-ranking Catholic was ''misled'' in his views on global warming.

Dr Greg Ayers told a Senate estimates hearing last month that the Archbishop of Sydney's argument against human-induced climate change was based heavily on a book by Ian Plimer, Heaven and Earth - Global Warming: The Missing Science, which had been discredited by members of the scientific community.

''The contents of the book are simply not scientific. I am concerned that the cardinal has been misled [by its contents],'' the bureau director said.

The new order in Federal Parliament is on the verge of breaking down, with MPs warning they are overworked, at risk of drug and alcohol dependency and are being held hostage by the demands of the independents.

The Sun-Herald has learnt of a strong push by Labor and Coalition MPs to scrap parts of the deal on parliamentary reform negotiated by the independents - Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor, Andrew Wilkie and Bob Katter - in the hung Parliament.

from Crikey .....

Tasmania's political alliance won't be pulped - but the people smell a con

From Hobart, political journalist Bruce Montgomery writes:

from Crikey .....

Democratic reform needs to spread to the Pacific region

Ged Kearney, president of the ACTU, writes:

Senior Liberal Nick Minchin says the globe is more likely to be cooling than warming and has slammed the Government's key climate adviser, Ross Garnaut, as "on the Government's payroll".

Amid fierce debate about the Government's carbon tax plan, Professor Garnaut yesterday warned the scientific case for climate change had strengthened the position that the Earth is warming and that human emissions of greenhouse gases are the main cause.

Senator Minchin - who led the Liberal Party's move to dump leader Malcolm Turnbull over his support for action over climate change - says Professor Garnaut, an economist, "knows nothing about the climate".

Opponents of the huge Barangaroo project would have won their case seeking to stop the development if the Planning Minister Tony Kelly had not changed the law just before the judgment was brought down.

In a scathing decision in the Land and Environment Court today, Justice Peter Biscoe dismissed the case brought by Australians for Sustainable Development but said they ''would have achieved success'' but for the minister's amendment last week.

A generation ago, irresponsible pundits inflamed anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment, claiming that the election of then Senator John F Kennedy to the presidency would put the White House under the control of Rome. Today, where Muslims are concerned, it seems there's no claim too absurd, no charge too baseless to command the full attention of certain public officials and even the investigatory powers of Congress. Representative Peter King should know better.

You have to laugh. How many nations are so keen to be close with Washington and will send troops to their pointless wars to prove the point?

New research has backed up the growing suspicion that merchants are profiteering from credit card surcharges, with some businesses stinging customers, on average, three times the fee they actually pay card companies.

What's more, some merchants are starting to apply surcharges to debit cards and even to cash transactions.

The latest survey of merchants by banking researcher East & Partners has found that the average surcharge is now 2.55 per cent, a figure that it says is in "stark contrast" to the average merchant fee for Bankcard, MasterCard and Visa of 0.81 per cent.

The scene in Madison is nothing like what they are showing you on TV or in the newspaper.

First, you notice that the whole town is behind this. Yard signs and signs in store windows are everywhere supporting public workers. There are thousands of people out just randomly lining the streets for the six blocks leading to the Capitol building carrying signs, shouting and cheering and cajoling. Then there are stages and friendly competing demos on all sides of the building (yesterday's total estimate of people was 50,000-70,000, the smallest one yet)!

from Crikey .....

Suspending disbelief in the carbon debate

Crikey Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

Try though I might - which is not very hard, I admit - I cannot raise a flicker of interest in the state election campaign. It is like watching a football replay where you know the score: in this case, a crushing defeat for the home side. The Premier can announce new policies until her hairstyle goes limp, but it matters not a jot because they will never see the light of day.