The first debate of the election is locked in, the CEO of News Corp has resigned and Peta Credlin – Abbott’s chief of staff – had her drink driving case postponed.  We tried really hard to find a link between the three events, but there just doesn’t seem to be one.

Labor’s policy announcement

•  No new policy announcements – but Kevin Rudd did appear on The Project.

Coalition’s policy announcement

• Tony Abbott announced an elected Coalition government would launch a judicial inquiry into the controversial home insulation program under Rudd’s first term, during the global financial crisis.
• Not a policy as such, but Abbott also said he’d base his budget figures on Treasury figures – something he had ruled out earlier.

Must read

After a week dominated by Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp empire, chief executive Kim Williams stepped down from his position atop the media tree.

Michelle Grattan penned a fantastic piece in The Conversation, detailing how demands from higher-ups to “go hard on Rudd” expedited Williams’s move to the unemployment line.

Quote of the day

“There is too much debate, about debates!”

The above clanger was brought to us by Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey, apparently fed up with all this pesky debate babbling.

However, Mr Hockey might beed to batten down his proverbial hatches after the first dreaded d-word was tabled for Sunday night, all but ensuring it’s discussed ad nauseam on Monday morning.

Tweet of the day

Australia's 5th best looking politician..disappointed again..! http://t.co/Kp6vNUQBGr #auspol #ausvotes #hotpol @newscomauHQ @the_mattyoung

— Alex Hawke MP (@AlexHawkeMP) August 9, 2013

While most pollies spent the day spruiking their events or challenging their counterparts’ claims on Twitter, one MP told it like it is.

The Liberal Party’s Alex Hawke, member for Mitchell, in Sydney, expressed his disappointment at not making it higher up the list of “Australia’s Hottest Politicians”.

Also on the list are: Melissa Parke, Larissa Waters, Jason Clare, Julie Bishop, Sarah Hanson-Young, Kate Lundy, David Bradbury, Malcolm Turnbull and Adam Bandt.  That’s four Labor people, three Liberals and three Greens. Some might say no one party can claim a win, much like the last parliament.

The article, which has been shared on Twitter more than 30 times, has copped some criticism.

In a cycle of constant political news, props go to Alex and article writer Matt Young for sharing this article – because who doesn’t relish the chance to judge a person’s clothes, whether they are our elected representatives or not?

— Adria De Fazio

Slip of the day

“Slip of the Day” comes from an unlikely source today, with The Age earning an unexpected accolade – at least, we’d like to think it was a slip.

Under the headline, “There’s Something About Kevin“, Fairfax‘s finest drew similarities with an unfortunately timed picture of Kevin Rudd today with Cameron Diaz’s infamous hairstyle moment in the nineties comedy, “There’s Something About Mary.”

And, while a Friday-itis could cover some of the blame, surely there’s better ways things we could collectively be doing than making such jokes.

Wrap by Liam Quinn and Erdem Koç. Follow them and send them tips on Twitter – @Quinn_LP and @erdemkoc.