The Media Monitors' Top 20

Senators Nick Xenophon and Steve Fielding proved to be the big movers this week, writes Patrick Baume.

“Nick who?” was surely the call around the office of Steve Fielding, as the good Senator reviewed the Family First results from WA and decided any publicity was good publicity, although Senator Xenophon proved what an old pro he was by dragging out an Osama bin Laden call on John Brumby, who is convinced the Murray Darling crisis couldn’t possibly have anything to do with him. Poor old Adolf never gets name dropped anymore, does he?

And of the people that the PM (we presume) is willing to talk to, Nicola Roxon got plenty of coverage thanks to the Senate’s work on the Medicare levy, Jenny Macklin got coverage on pensions and maternity leave and Lindsay Tanner looked just a little bit excited about the Wall Street meltdown and his own fiscal rectitude.

TW	Move	Position	Politician	Press Index	Radio Index	TV Index	Internet Index	Raw total	INDEX
1	0	PM	Kevin Rudd	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	*25,214*	1,000
2	0	Opp Leader	Malcolm Turnbull	458	530	437	740	*15,291*	541
3	1	Cabinet	Wayne Swan	330	400	251	410	*9,279*	348
4	1	Premier	Nathan Rees	221	309	83	696	*11,065*	327
5	4	Cabinet	Julia Gillard	313	276	161	159	*4,912*	227
6	9	Minor Party	Steve Fielding	170	316	189	155	*5,166*	208
7	16	Cabinet	Nicola Roxon	130	173	103	167	*3,852*	144
8	-1	Backbench	Peter Costello	114	73	65	242	*3,875*	124
9	-3	Shadow	Julie Bishop	84	92	54	218	*3,605*	112
10	7	Party leader	Bob Brown	80	123	87	153	*3,212*	111
11	21	Premier	John Brumby	161	179	39	55	*2,202*	109
12	6	Independent	Nick Xenophon	95	129	56	142	*2,956*	105
13	-10	Backbench	Brendan Nelson	139	61	28	175	*2,792*	101
14	11	NSW Opp Ld	Barry O’Farrell	21	102	30	205	*3,325*	89
15	9	Cabinet	Jenny Macklin	89	102	104	45	*1,890*	85
16	-5	Cabinet	Stephen Smith	72	38	91	139	*2,513*	85
17	2	Premier	Anna Bligh	138	95	22	69	*1,697*	81
18	9	Cabinet	Penny Wong	88	134	5	91	*2,065*	79
19	18	Cabinet	Lindsay Tanner	62	69	108	59	*1,836*	75
20	0	Premier	Mike Rann	124	102	29	27	*1,256*	70

Still neck and neck on talkback as the callers decide how they feel about Turnbull, and whether he really wants to raise their pension.

Rank	Politician	Talkback
1	Kevin Rudd	383
2	Malcolm Turnbull	376
3	Wayne Swan	135
4	Nathan Rees	127
5	Jenny Macklin	70

Perhaps something that should be introduced to politics? …if you want to make a comeback you have to give six months notice in writing … although Bronwyn Bishop probably doesn’t have to keep resending her letter every six months.