Getting down to business

So far, there have been no real surprises. The parlous Canning by-election in Western Australia was always going to test Tony Abbotts hold on the prime ministership, and in the age of continuous polling there was no need to wait for the actual vote. Malcolm Turnbulls election as Liberal Party leader was always likely to be well received by the media and the public. And Turnbulls first ministerial reshuffle seems to have emphatically set the government on a new course