1. The latest Fairfax poll shows the Coalition in the lead with 52% to Labor’s 48% on a two party preferred basis. According to the poll, Mr Abbott has won voters over in terms of ‘trustworthiness’, leading Prime Minister Rudd by 7 points, a major turnaround from last month, when Rudd led Abbott by 5 points.
2. One Nation will not allow Stephanie Banister to contest the seat of Rankin, after a disastrous interview on Seven News. According to reports, One Nation party leader, Pauline Hanson, said that Banister, who referred to Islam as a country and was unaware that the NDIS was yet to be implemented, was “not ready.”
3. Police have foiled a potential terror attack on Sydney’s CBD. The plan was discovered after police found two bombs, larger than those used in the Boston Bombings, hidden in a duffel bag under a house on the state’s South Coast.
4. A bill to force Muslim women to remove the burqa when asked to prove their identity to police has been introduced in the West Australian Parliament. The move to pass the bill follows NSW legislation from 2011, which requires that people remove any form of head covering when asked to identify themselves to police.
5. US President Barack Obama has announced transparency reforms to National Security Agency’s widespread surveillance programs. The announcement comes in the wake of public pressure to increase transparency in the NSA’s operation, after exiled whistleblower, Edward Snowden, revealed details of internet and phone monitoring by the intelligence organisation.
