What ministers talk about when they think no one’s listening. Overheard in the lifts in the Perth Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices yesterday after the Cabinet meeting – one minister telling another how about an upcoming visit to Kalgoorlie where local MP Barry Haase has promised to take him on a non-participatory tour of the fabled local brothels. The second minister observes how Haase is known as “The Love God” because of his Barry White voice.

All publicity is good publicity. That light bulb decision has made the London Independent. They think it’s such a good idea that they appear to have promoted the bloke whose bright idea it was. The Indie talks about “Mr Turnbull, whose right-of-centre government…” It also calls him “Bill Turnbull”.

Keeping up appearances in Kirribilli. Life in Kirribilli House seems to mirror Keeping up Appearances, the sitcom that gave us Hyacinth Bucket. A subscriber writes: “Not only do Mrs Bucket and Mrs Howard look alike, but Mr Bucket (Richard) and Mr Howard do too. Indeed, I should have added that one plot-line for the show was that Richard Bucket didn’t want to retire early because he couldn’t bare the thought of staying at home with Hyacinth. Curiouser and Curiouser!”