He returned from a holiday just as Brendan Nelson, installed after the shock of the Howard defeat, called a vote to shore up his crumbling leadership.

ECONOMIST: Unconventionally, the Liberals pick a liberal

According to Brendan Nelson, the education minister and a rising star in the Liberal Party, the federal government is now concentrating its efforts on training, on which he thinks the states have done poorly.

ECONOMIST: The limits to growth

Indeed, at a time when the politics of climate change has played a part in the removal of two prime ministers and two opposition leaders - Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull - Bob Brown has turned this nettlesome issue to his party's advantage.

BBC: Greens enjoy taste of power in Australia's parliament