1. Final presidential debate
Well we know what the tone of today's debate will be. U.G.L.Y.
Donald Trump, facing more bad polls, is likely to go on the offensive in Las Vegas [Stephen Collinson/CNN] and continue his "whining" - as Obama put it - that the election is rigged.
![Trump and Clinton will meet in Las Vegas for the final debate.](/web/20170109190252im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/y/k/7/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs69yx.png/1478081460052.jpg)
"Their final strategy is to suppress Clinton's turnout using scorched-earth tactics," a Republican strategist tells Bloomberg. [Mark Niquette, John McCormick]
Ahead of the final face-off, the right-wing online news website Breitbart (whose former executive chairman Steve Bannon is a paid-up top advisor for the Trump campaign) has published an interview with a new Bill Clinton accuser. [Aaron Klein]
The debate will be moderated for the first time by a Fox News anchor. [Five things to know about Wallace] And it's emerged Trump has fallen out with former Fox News boss and key ally Roger Ailes, amid reports Ailes felt prepping Trump, who couldn't focus, for the debates was a waste of time! [Vanity Fair]
And a lovely piece from Josephine Tovey on the rise-and-rise of FLOTUS, the untarnished star of the 2016 campaign. My must-read for today. [The Sydney Morning Herald]
![President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wait to greet Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife Agnese Landini on the North Portico for a State Dinner at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170109190252im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/5/n/e/g/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476843211665.png)
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at their final state dinner. Photo: AP
2. BHP sets gender target
![BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie](http://web.archive.org./web/20170109190252im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/1/t/7/y/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476063087295.png)
BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie Photo: Carla Gottgens
Women currently make up 17 per cent of BHP's staff. So it's got a lot of work to do to reach its ambitious target to have women make up half its workforce by 2025.
The policy will be announced at the company's annual shareholder meeting in London on Thursday. [James Wilson/Financial Times] (£)
3. China has Crowns' details
Chinese police have seized computers, laptops and mobile phones of Crown employees and almost certainly have the company's detailed records on the gambling habits of the company's big spenders. [Philip Wen/Fairfax]
4. Abbott's new 'logic'
![Former PM Tony Abbott appears on the ABC's 7.30 program on Wednesday night.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170109190252im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/8/6/n/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476869839266.png)
Former PM Tony Abbott appears on the ABC's 7.30 program on Wednesday night. Photo: ABC
It's a marvellous world inside Tony Abbott's mind. His latest request for sane folk to suspend their belief in things like logic and facts and written statements is a marvel.
Last night he appeared on 7.30 and attempted to deny he had struck his own deal to allow the Adler shotgun into the country after 12-month ban. [Watch]
The email confirming the deal was sent by an advisor to Minister Michael Keenan. But Tony Abbott says even though it belonged to his government, because the correspondence was sent by a "staffer in a minister's office," he never personally struck any deal on guns. [Tom McIlroy/Fairfax]
"Tricksy," I think Gollum would say.
When asked if he'd be interested in running for the leadership, he said: "I'm not expecting a vacancy anytime soon."
"I think the last thing we need in this country is a revolving door prime ministership," he added.
And when pressed on the speculation he'd like the job back: "Well it's not a question of what I might like, it's a question for what the partyroom wants."
I think we can safely say once and for all, we all know what's he's up to! And who can blame him, watching Turnbull make a fist of it seemingly every other day.
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday 11 October 2016. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen](http://web.archive.org./web/20170109190252im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/z/w/c/m/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476325587947.png)
Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce during Question Time. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
The Daily Telegraph reports Deputy Prime Minister and federal Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also supports allowing the Adler in. [Andrew Clennell]
This is also referenced in an excellent analysis piece by Gratts. [Michelle Grattan/The Conversation]
It's a bizarre world indeed when Abbott is siding against the Nats, as Mark Kenny notes. [Fairfax]
5. In other politics news:
You can't make this stuff up. DFAT flew 23 boffins to Paris for a talkfest on...how to save money! [Heath Aston/Fairfax]
![John Fraser Treasury Secretary appared before a Senate Committee at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 10 February 2016. Photo: Andrew Meares](http://web.archive.org./web/20170109190252im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/5/k/l/x/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476839384424.png)
John Fraser Treasury Secretary before a Senate Committee at Parliament House in Canberra. Photo: Andrew Meares
Australia's triple-A rating could be downgraded as soon as the mid-year economic update is issued (due by the end of the year) and Treasury Secretary John Fraser says this would affect us all. [David Uren/The Australian]
Fraser says soaring private and government debt is threatening the rating. [Jacob Greber/Financial Review]
In Queensland, former Premier Campbell is saying I-told-you-so after Standard & Poors cited his politically fatal public sector job cuts as a reason to affirm that state's AA+ rating. Newman also says public servants have since thanked him because they've gone on to start new and exciting careers. [Courier Mail]
The bungled online census will cost taxpayers $30 million. [Primrose Riordan/Financial Review]
And it's been a while since an intervention from Jacqui Lambie. The Tasmanian independent is now demanding Australian soldiers be allowed to conduct war crimes if their opponents belong to Islamic State or the Taliban. What was that about never letting the terrorists win? [Andrew Greene/ABC]
Peta Credlin says male chiefs of staff are not accused of having affairs with their bosses and the accusation that she was having an affair with Tony Abbott is sexist. [Sky News]
And don't miss Deborah Snow's excellent interview with former spy boss David Irvine. [The Sydney Morning Herald]
6. Saudi royal family executes one of its own
Prince Turki bin Saud Al Kabir shot dead a man after a brawl. He was executed on Tuesday - making it one of the first-known executions of a royal family member since 1975.
Saudis have reportedly largely approved of the decision.
And that's it from me today, you can follow me on Facebook for more.
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