Darwin based journalist/author , Nicolas Rothwell, has been called one of the best thinkers and one of the most elegant writers in Australian journalism by the ABC's Late Night Live presenter, Phillip Adams, in a panel discussion on the infuence of polls on politics. Rothwell is the North Australia correspondent for the national newspaper, The Australian .
During the discussion Rothwell pointed out that at the previous federal election the Northern Territory had been the centre of a national emergency, the intervention. In the current campaign , Aboriginal matters had hardly been raised. He made the observation that China also appeared to have dropped off the radar since the demise of Kevin Rudd. The presidential nature of elections , it was said, with polls reporting one or other of the two leaders being a point or two ahead , made the event seem like a horse race .
