Bennelong for beginners. Clever Maxine McKew. If she wants to run for parliament, Bennelong’s the perfect seat. It’s not too far from her home turf and has a sitting MP who will be busy elsewhere. If Labor wins the election, Bennelong is likely to fall Labor’s way. If Labor fails Maxine’s likely to fail, too – but she will have been blooded and able to move onto another role.

What happens if Howard goes? There have been premature celebrations before, but at least a Crikey reader has come up with an original way to mark a Liberal loss in Bennelong. They want to play Louis Jordan’s Somebody done hoodooed the hoodoo man.

Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before. Pauline Hanson has announced this morning that she’s running as Senate candidate in Queensland. Again. At least she won’t lose to Bec Cartwright in this competition.

Will Khemlani kome a cropper? If that weekend Galaxy poll about Labor’s vote in Queensland is right, Ryan would be within half a percentage point of falling into Labor hands for the second time in its history. But an extraordinary statement just days earlier by its sitting MP, our pal Michael “Khemlani” Johnson, may have sealed his political fate. He’s bought into the proposed Ipswich Motorway by-pass row, backing an option that will deliver thousands of cars each day on to the already clopped roads of his electorate. Labor can’t believe its luck. To top it all off, Johnson seems to be engaging in the curious fundraising activities that gave him his moniker. The Courier Mail reports that if you book a trip to the upcoming Boao Forum business conference in China Khemlani is spruiking through his office, you’ll pay $5,000. Book through the forum’s website and you’ll pay up to $1,500 less.

Send your snippets to christian@crikey.com.au.