He is still the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts.

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Note "Environmental Protection" - that title change was the result of restructuring that stripped him of pretty much all his responsibility. The media here referred to it as a demotion to "Minister for Fluffy Animals".

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Whether he'll still be there in�6 weeks time remains well up in the air - current polling suggests a strong swing against Labor, but much of that swing is to the Greens. Once preference deals are accounted for, Labor have a small "2 party preferred" lead.

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My predictions: Most likely, the Greens will gain a couple of seats, but not enough to hold the balance of power. Much like the last election, the winning party will scape over the line by a large number of seats but a small number of actual votes. Right now, I suspect Labor will win based on pure rhetoric (somehow, "moving forward together" has become an effective catch cry, managing to portray Labor as a progressive party, despite their largely unchanged policies and cabinet.)

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For all the Australians reading this, I encourage you to recall that we live in a REPRESENTATIVE democracy, where the most good is done by voting for the best representitive in your seat, not the representive of the party with the most charismatic leader (er...neither of them, this time. Nevermind).

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- Chris