Only Australia’s No1 family newszine The Bug will keep you up-to-speed with each and every day of the campaign though the cutting-edge analysis of our in-house political experts, how the mainstream mediocre is behaving and a close watch on poll trends and betting markets.

Exciting news on The Bug‘s federal election coverage! Our daily reviews of happenings on the hustings are unparalleled in our humble view but they are now even better with the casting of a brand-new weekly trophy to dishonour the very worst of the mainstream mediocre’s efforts.

Details of this uncoveted award are in a separate post to be uploaded today but here’s just an image to hopefully get you as excited as we are to be handing out this priceless piece of junk to someone very unspecial over the next four Saturdays!

It’s why we’re kicking off today’s look at Thursday’s campaign events with first focus on that moronic media and why Andrew Bolt is in our featured image at top. Dead set, there’s a very good chance Bolt has the first award in his keeping with his effort on Sky LNPNews and in Newcorpse columns yesterday, reviewing not one but two debates, making him a mass debating expert in our view.

We won’t insult you BUGgers out there with much of Bolt’s view on the Treasurers’ and Energy Ministers’ TV debates but he’s really got his hands – sorry, he’s really got a handle – on how poorly Jim Chalmers and Chris Bowen performed.

Bolt wrote and spoke about the ministers’ public “humiliation”.

“Two top Albanese government ministers have just had their backsides handed to them as Trump would say,” Bolt thundered. Well, Trump would actually say “asses” like all the international leaders who are lining up to kiss his ass. In Australia, Andrew, we say arse and arses!

So, did anything else happen on DAY FOURTEEN, Wednesday, April 9?

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The big event yesterday was the “debate” between government and opposition energy spokespeople in Canberra.

Shadow energy and climate change minister and nuclear power plant expert, Ted O’Brien, (far right and at right below) used the event hosted by the National Press Club with Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen (sort of left below) to promote the Coalition’s plans to secure the nation’s energy future.

Mr O’Brien thoughtfully did not worry his Press Club audience nor viewers at home or online with any pesky details such as how and how much a Dutton government would slug taxpayers for building the seven nuclear power stations it has promised.

Nor did he worry those watching with details of how much his nuclear plans, costed by some at around $600 billion, would impact on their power bills.

Despite once again not providing any such details Mr O’Brien was declared the clear winner of the debate by The Australian newspaper. (far right below)

The verdict appeared to be based on a single fact clearly evident at the debate – that Mr O’Brien wasn’t Mr Bowen.

While again not divulging details of his nuclear plans, Mr O’Brien took the opportunity of the debate, and a drink of water which somewhat muffled his voice, to declare the Coalition’s commitment to a target of what sounded like “not zero by 2050”.

When asked to clarify the comment by a reporter from the floor, Mr O’Brien exclaimed “Doh!”, donned his lead-lined hazmat suit, and yelled “Duck and cover everyone!” causing the Press Club audience to dive under tables. In the confusion Mr O’Brien exited the venue.

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In other news from the energy debate, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), is examining a question from the floor posed to Mr Bowen by columnist for The Australian and Sky News contributor, Chris Uhlmann. (far far right and below)

The question concerned the Albanese Government’s pre-2022 election promise to cut household electricity bills by $275 a year.

An AEC spokesperson confirmed that the commission’s legal experts were scrutinising the text of Mr Uhlmann’s question to determine if it breached the Electoral Act.

“At this stage it’s pretty clear to our legal eagles that because the question was broadcast via the live coverage of the energy debate, it is likely that Mr Uhlmann breached the Act by not including a tag, either verbal or on-screen, letting viewers know the question was written and authorised by the federal Liberal Party,” the AEC spokesperson said.

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Now for our uncoveted ….

Ah, so many to choose from but we couldn’t go past Andrew Bolt’s mass debating brilliance as outlined above. But it is true that Graham Lloyd, also mentioned above, and, sadly, many others weren’t all that far behind.

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One fresh poll lobbed overnight – YouGov that pushed out Labor’s lead slightly to 52.5/47.5. So our two-party-preferred averages of the five opinion polls we’re now keeping an eye on – Newspoll, Resolve, Roy Morgan, YouGov and Redbridge – shifted Labor’s way to …

Labor: 52 (was 51.7); Coalition 48 (was 48.3). Labor in 2022 got a parliamentary majority by the slenderest of margins on a similar 2PP.

As mentioned before, Guardian‘s Essential Poll thinks it’s professional or clever or somehow responsible not to publish a two-party-preferred figure. The Bug again calls bullshit on that. Nevertheless, its latest primary figures suggest however a slight Labor lead.

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And how did the online bookies react to all that money flowing in the LNP’s way after another brilliant day for Dutton and Co, according to just about every “journo” at Newcorpse and many others too.

Here are the odds we snared at around 9.30pm last night (Thursday), compared with 24 hours earlier.

Sportsbet: Labor $1.31 ($1.35 ); Coalition $3.55 ($3.22)
Ladbrokes: Labor $1.36 ( $1.40); Coalition $3.19 ($2.75)
TAB: Labor $1.26 (1.32); Coalition $3.80 ($3.40)
bet365: Labor $1.28 ($1.36 ) Coalition $3.75 ($3.00).

Ouch! Looks like at least one pollster and the betting mobs didn’t get the general mainstream mediocre memo about the LNP’s brilliant fightback of late on the campaign trail.

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