He said it, then he didn't say it - serial stirrer Larry Pickering makes a claim that that when he was Premier, government wasn’t the only thing Peter Beattie was in – Larry posted that Beattie was doing a bit of a Bob Hawke - but the post has now disappeared.

 But the salacious post had suddenly disappeared. The Magpie peers into this particular campaign can of worms.

… and here in the ‘Ville, is it Mayor Mullet for the Senate? Has our gal  started the long game to get on the Labor ticket in three years, using ratepayers money along the way? …

…. and CCTV security cameras, are they worth the time and effort? Well, they are machines and need human attention, otherwise no.The Pie EXCLUSIVELY REVEALS (cop that, Astonisher) an intriguing exchange of emails between an aggrieved ratepayer and ‘an amused’ Mayor Mullet. It is a great read, hilarious if it wasn’t true … and you thought Catch-22 was just a theory.

All that and quotes of the week in this edition of the nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

Tinkering Taylor? Is legendary Townsville/Gold Coast ALP political persuader Barry The Bagman Taylor suddenly lurching to the Right, and is now banging the begging bowl for the Libs Herbert candidate Ewen Jones?

Looks like it, and as with everything else he does, our multi-millionaire lawyer pal isn’t one for doing it by halves.

If that is out of left field, Big Bazza isn’t alone in the surprise stakes. North Queensland can lay claim to the loopiest candidate for this election, and, guess what, to quote our temporary PM - it ain’t The Cut Snake Party’s Mad Katter ….

… but someone in the Cut Snake bunker will be getting the bum kicked ‘til their nose bleeds after a memory lapse has caused great on-line merriment…

Remember John Cleese's unforgettable (that’s why you’ll remember it) Ministry of Funny Walks. Hilarious, ridculous but harmless fun, yes? Well, no – at least not in the Northern Territory – could cost you $150 …

All here, and a lot of other flapdoodle here in this week’s nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

This week, the latest installment of the continuing gory story you’ll never see in the Townsville Bulletin; yup, the latest circulation and readership figures show the paper will soon be on life support …. but it just gets worse for the readers, as the now-daily run of cock-ups and unethical ‘reporting’ continues apace.

Also, a low blow - Mayor Mullet’s makes a subversive attack on The Magpie's credibility ….

... an hilarious real-life defamation case that depends entirely on fiction to prove the offence … it’s a corker for the legally minded …

…. And Tony Abbott’s verbal disappearance up his own fundament has captured Bentley’s wicked eye; all that and some other amusing odds and … errr … sods, all here in the nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

A clown AND a clairvoyant - Peter Beattie's spooky 2009 prediction - has an Oak Valley, Townsville resident made the best unwitting political statement of the campaign? … and it’s been just one of those weeks for an error-prone Astonisher.

Also, Townsville Hospital to start charging for parking – a callous cash grab or prudent management? (Yes, well, this is meant to be a humorous blog.)

... and Peter Beattie counts on electoral amnesia, to let him eventually have a shot at The Lodge … (Bentley has his say on that one).

All here in this week’s nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

The numbers keep sinking for the The Daily Astonisher – and did Captain Snooze slumber on when Labor’s Herbert hopeful Cathy O’Toole made her first mini-gaffe of the current campaign? He is her campaign manager after all.

It was a slip-up allowed the Townsville Bulletin to continue to ignore media ethics and do the big media no-no - break an embargo, which did not amuse a visiting pollie or other media.

Conspiracy Theory, Dept of: Why some are betting PM KRudd will hold off for a few more days - maybe about mid-week -  before naming the date for his own execution – there are those who believe there’s a lucrative backroom rort behind the delay ... 

And Telling Pix Dept of:  there is a picture worth those proverbial thousand words of one of the most prescient political commentators of this campaign …. and a WORLD EXCLUSIVE ... hitherto unseen photographs from KRudd, The Early Years. 

It seems mangled language – Manglish – is a required talent for those who have signed up to Katter’s Cut Snake Party – even the ‘celebritiy candidates’ … there was one thigh-slapper Bob himself would have been proud of ….

Cairns’ new $4.2billion mega resort and casino a major step closer, and The Pie is alarmed at one possible but undeclared effect on the ‘Ville ….

Plus all the usual fun of the fair, with the week’s silliness, quotes of the week – which includes a ‘what the hell were you thinking moment’ for Townsville state member John Hathaway - and Bentley’s usual skewed view on life, all here in the nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au