UPDATE

As if this election weren’t already distasteful enough, the sister of a Western Sydney member of parliament has accused a volunteer from an opposing party of threatening her with a knife.

Sabina Husic, is the sister of Labor MP and Parliamentary Secretary Ed Husic, who holds the seat of Chifley in the western suburbs of Chifley.

Police are currently investigating claims that a Liberal Party campaign worker threatened Ms Husic with a stanley knife while yelling ‘you f*cking dog’.

….

1. A 14-year-old girl in America has created a social media storm, after posting on clothing retailer Rue 21’s Facebook page, claiming that she had been asked to leave the store because she was ‘too fat’.

Shelby Buster was shopping with her friends at the mall and was looking at perfumes when she was approached by a shop assistant and told, “Hey, you’re too big to be in this store, I need you to leave.”

Flabbergasted, she left but after her later complaint, the company were forced to release a statement in response.

The company’s statement read: “We have been unable to corroborate that the incident actually happened. We value diversity and welcome all customers in our stores.”

“We train our associates on inclusion and do not condone discrimination in any form. Behaviors like that described are unacceptable and are not by any means directive of the company.”

2. Yesterday the Coalition released their costings and revealed where they would be making cuts to government spending. The Coalition plans to cut $4 billion from foreign aid, 12,000 jobs from the public service to save $5.2 billion, and ‘streamline’ Family Court processes to save a further $30 million. Other significant cuts are also being planned in an effort to return the budget to surplus faster.

3. One of the most surprising political events yesterday occurred when the Coalition retracted a policy it had posted online only hours earlier. The Coalition issued a correction about an 11-page policy document, which suggested that filters for all new broadband systems would be set to automatically block adult content; an “opt out” safeguard similar to that currently seen in the UK.

Coalition Communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull retracted the policy in the evening. Turnbull called the policy, “poorly worded and incorrectly supported an opt out system of internet filtering for both mobile and fixed line services.” He continued, “The Coalition has never supported mandatory internet filtering.” Political commentators are now wondering if the policy error was indeed a really big typo, or whether Turnbull retracted the policy after initial criticism online.

4. After Tony Abbott’s appearance on ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet two days ago, last night it was Prime Minister Kevin Rudd‘s turn to sit down with Annabel Crabb. During the program (for which he and daughter Jessica made brownies) Rudd asked rhetorically , “I don’t die easily, do I?”

The Labor leader also commented on leadership tensions over the past three years, and said that he was not bitter.

“You run into too many bitter and twisted people in life, whether they are in whatever profession, who just sort of carry around their lives this sort of burden or bucket of hatred … Then you realise you’re entering into a zone of 25 years worth of, you know, silent and anger and you think ‘bah,” Mr Rudd said.

5. The man who streaked naked during this year’s State of Origin match has been sentenced to three months in jail.

33-year-old Wati Holmwood bared all back in July but his prison sentence is so large because he was on a good behaviour bond at the time, which was breached by the nudie run.

6. A 6-year-old girl in India who was raped by a 40-year-old man, may be forced to marry her attacker’s 8-year-old son. The man allegedly attacked the girl at Keshavpura in Kota two weeks ago. According to a local police officer, “instead of registering a police complaint, elders belonging to the girl’s caste called a panchayat (village council) meeting.” The council then ordered the girl should marry the man’s son, but her parents have refused to accept the ruling.