The idea of state income taxes lasted all of about 48 hours before the premiers killed it stone dead at last week’s COAG meeting, with the government’s poll numbers falling behind the Opposition for the first time since Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister. COAG pushed all of the premiers up the list, even though the PM didn’t come straight back with “ok, how about we abolish the states then?” which is what most former PMs think is the only answer, as deeply unlikely as that prospect is.

Even the Lord Mayor of Canberra … er, sorry, I mean Chief Minister of course … Andrew Barr made a rare appearance on the list, as he put his two cents in on how to deal with vertical fiscal imbalance. Hmmm, Canberra and Brisbane seem to be run relatively well by large, powerful local governments, maybe we should only have two tiers … ok, I’ll hush now.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton moved up the list as the government announced there were no longer any children in detention in Australia, although there are still children on Nauru, but not in a detention centre setting, and Innovation Minister Christopher Pyne was the main defender of the government’s “messy week” after his appearance on Q&A on Monday.

Crikey Political Index: March 31 – April 6

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Not much change in social media this week, although Peter Dutton slips in at number five, with plenty of tweeters still not thrilled by the government’s asylum seeker policies.

Social Media Top Five

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The idea of state income taxes certainly got everyone excited on talkback — mostly not in a good way — but there was some support for greater federalism.

Talkback Top Five

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Four sixes off your last over to lose a World Cup final. Makes Malcolm Turnbull and Donald Trump’s last seven days look like a piece of cake, really.

Comparison of media mentions

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