Breaking: Latest Newspoll results.

Fresh quarterly Newspoll October - December 2017 has Labor 54 (+1) Coalition 46 (-1).
Liberal Party now dwindles at just 32% in metropolitan areas, Nationals still on 3% gets the Coalition to their 35% primary vote “leadership renaissance” for Turnbull?

Latest Newspoll quarterly breakdowns have Labor leading comfortably in ALL mainland states. ALP leads both metro & regions, regional voters have stopped listening to the Coalition. Prime Minister Turnbull has lost his 25th consecutive Newspoll, ending 2017 on another low.

Qld: 55/45 (9.1% swing)
NSW: 54/46 (3.9% swing)
Vic: 54/46 (2.2% swing)
WA: 53/47 (6.3% swing)
SA: 53/47 (0.7% swing)

If a general election was held today: Labor 93 (+24) seats, Coalition 52 (-24) seats, others 5 seats.

Julie Bishop has billed taxpayers for a trip to Adelaide where she celebrated her birthday.

It is reported by the Daily Telegraph that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop billed taxpayers more than $1600 in flights and accommodation for a trip to Adelaide where she celebrated her 60th birthday with family. It is reported that Ms Bishop celebrated on the eve of her July 17 birthday in 2016 with a home-cooked meal of seafood and South Australian wines at big sister MaryLou’s home in the posh Adelaide suburb of Medindie. The Foreign Minister’s other siblings Patricia and Douglas as well her brother-in-law Joe also attended the low-key dinner reports the Daily Telegraph. It is reported that Government documents reveal that Ms Bishop billed taxpayers $1341 for a one way flight from Perth to Adelaide to attend the dinner on July 16. It is reported that she also claimed $128 travelling allowance for the night and spent $159 on chauffeur-driven trips while in Adelaide. Two years earlier, writes the Daily Telegraph, taxpayers spent $2400 for a one-night trip to Adelaide, where Ms Bishop’s sister hosted cocktails for her 58th birthday.

'Ongoing erosion of legal rights': Government slammed for ignoring key report for two years.

It is reported by the SMH that the Turnbull government has been slammed for ignoring a major legal report for more than two years, while continuing to enact laws that erode fundamental rights. It is reported that the Law Council of Australia and the right wing Institute of Public Affairs have urged the new Attorney-General, Christian Porter, to curb what the IPA called "the ongoing erosion of legal rights" in Australia. The SMH reports that in its annual audit of the nation's laws, released to Fairfax Media on yesterday, the IPA identified another 19 breaches contained in the statutes passed this year – taking its count to 324. And it is reported that the organisation identified Treasurer Scott Morrison, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and recently-departed attorney-general George Brandis as the ministers behind many of the problematic provisions. SMH writes that IPA research fellow Morgan Begg said that the breakdown of basic legal rights "seems to be entrenched in the law-making process" in Australia. The SMH writes that he said that it was also a "huge concern" that the government has never formally responded to a major 600-page report on the same subject, finalised by the Australian Law Reform Commission at the end of 2015. It sis reported that the Traditional Rights and Freedoms Inquiry was commissioned in the early days of the Abbott government. On Tuesday, the Law Council of Australia president Fiona McLeod joined the call for Mr Porter to prioritise a response to the long-overlooked inquiry.