Victorian election pushes leaders into the national spotlight

The new Premier of Victoria, the man most thought would never make it, fell over the line in an unexpected but not totally surprising win, given the last five or so elections in Australia. The random explanations of why it happened from the politicians and the media will probably be more entertaining than the campaign itself, but that’s not a tough challenge.

Not much change elsewhere in the list, Tony Abbott maintaining his low profile and Wayne Swan dropping down the list as the robust discussion on bank profits and competition died down. Steve Fielding squeezes a few more moments of relevance out of his public service career, surely more squeezing to come over the next six months.

The biggest mover was Anthony Albanese explaining his line on same s-x marriage and getting a piece of the NBN action with the Telstra separation bill sneaking over the line in both houses either side of the weekend. And let’s not forget Kevin Foley, who rounds out a pretty odd 12 months in South Australian politics.

The brand new Premier of Victoria managed a whole 260 syndicated calls, his (barely) vanquished predecessor 221. The elections may continue but the populace has thoroughly moved on from any focus on politic

Perhaps the most important international news of the year with the most lasting ramifications will struggle to make it into the top ten stories of the week in Australia.