Interesting to contemplate what the election outcome might have been if all parties had been required by law to tell the truth while campaigning. And at last we can now dispense with the fiction that Australian elections are about national policies and simply search for a Mr or Mrs Popularity to run for PM.

Morrison fills the bill perfectly – popular, with no policies. Shorten – unpopular, with policies. McCormack – who? Hanson – friend of those to the right of Genghis Khan and as for policies, depends on the day of the week. Palmer – an inevitable result of the political shambles of the last decade.