1. Trump could contest election
This is classic Trump. After weeks of claiming the entire system is rigged against him Trump has declared he will accept the result after all... if he wins! While pledging "we are going to win," he also said if there is an unclear win, he will reserve his right to file a legal challenge to the result. [Josephine Tovey/Fairfax]
He was campaigning in the crucial swing state of Ohio - a new poll shows Trump and Clinton neck-and-neck. [CNN]
![Donald Trump at an Ohio rally on Thursday.](/web/20161023142453im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/7/a/3/t/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs79lx.png/1477038640813.jpg)
This came after he refused to commit to accepting the election result in last night's surprisingly polite(r) third and final debate.
Trump and Clinton meet again tonight - at a black tie gala. Awks. [Jezebel]
Have we been underestimating Clinton's own political skills in all this? Trump's collapse was not inevitable but the result of Clinton's carefully planned and strategic campaign, argues Ezra Klein. [Vox]
2. Parly week ends...
And the winner is... Labor!
If you have the time watch this speech from Bill Shorten in the house late yesterday. It's one of the best I've seen from the usually lacklustre communicator and one of the better speeches I've seen in the entire parliament in a long time. Look at how relaxed, funny and savage Shorten is when he's enjoying himself. In politics, momentum is everything.
Neither Abbott nor Turnbull come out of the week anything other than damaged after open warfare broke out between the two over gun control.
Abbott's colleagues aren't copping his tricksiness and called out his lies in Parliament on Thursday. [James Massola, Michael Koziol/Fairfax]
![Former prime minister Tony Abbott hits back in Parliament.](http://web.archive.org./web/20161023142453im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/z/i/o/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476955580432.png)
Former prime minister Tony Abbott hits back in Parliament. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told Abbott to make a clarifying statement, as there is an email indicating his office knew of the deal. When he refused, Turnbull effectively called Abbott a liar. It doesn't get more serious than this, says Michelle Grattan. [The Conversation]
What's behind this openly destructive scattergun approach from Abbott?
Dennis Shannahan, with an insight into Abbott's thinking, says the former PM's realised he is "not considered comeback material within the party any time soon." [The Australian]
(Abbott on Wednesday night said he wasn't expecting a vacancy in the leadership "any time soon.")
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull used Question Time to fire a broadside at Tony Abbott.](http://web.archive.org./web/20161023142453im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/s/s/q/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476955580371.png)
Malcolm Turnbull used Question Time to fire a broadside at Tony Abbott. Photo: Andrew Meares
For Malcolm Turnbull, and the government, this is the most dangerous position for Abbott to be in - without any immediate hope of a comeback there is no need for him to be disciplined and wrecking is what he knows and does best. It also means that something has changed in just the few weeks since Abbott was in Britain telling Tory allies that he had a reasonable chance of a comeback.
The "disastrous" week underlined the need for Abbott to depart parliament, say some Liberals. [The Australian]
And don't miss Pamela Williams' lovely scene-setter of the toxic factional battle due to come to a head this weekend when Tony Abbott pursues plebiscites to preselect candidates at the NSW State council. [The Australian]
3. Is this the end for Triggs?
![Under fire: Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs in front of Senate estimates this week.](http://web.archive.org./web/20161023142453im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/4/m/7/b/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476925250077.png)
Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs at Senate estimates. Photo: Andrew Meares
Gillian Triggs, the Human Rights Commission President, has long been a target of the Liberals and now she is an even bigger one. Triggs' attempt to discredit a journalist by claiming the respected author and journalist Ramona Koval misquoted her comments came undone during Senate Estimates when she acknowledged Koval's audio recording of their interview backed her report in The Saturday Paper.
In that article, Triggs said: "Our parliamentarians are usually seriously ill-informed and uneducated. All they know is the world of Canberra and politics and they've lost any sense of a rule of law, and curiously enough for Canberra they don't even understand what democracy is." Further Triggs boasted: "I knew I could have responded and destroyed them — I could have said, 'You've asked me a question that demonstrated you have not read our statute. How dare you question what I do?'." [Catch up]
This week, Triggs told Parliament, during a Senate hearing that she did not say "destroyed" and had been taken out of context. [Jared Owens/The Australian]
The tape showed otherwise and on Thursday, Triggs was back -tracking. "Upon further reflection I accept that the article was an accurate excerpt from a longer interview. I had no intention of questioning The Saturday Paper's journalistic integrity," she said in a statement.
Not surprisingly the government is keen to replace Professor Triggs asap but not before hauling her back before parliament to explain her initial testimony. (Her term is due to expire in 2017) [Michael Koziol, James Massola/Fairfax]
This whole episode is a good reminder that politicians and public figures from the left and right can resort to personally attacking journalists by accusing them of making things up instead of just admitting they said what they were reported to have said, however indiscreet at the time.
4. May's visit to Brussels
![MADRID, SPAIN - OCTOBER 13: British Prime Minister Theresa May looks on as she meets Spanish caretaker Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (not in the picture) at Moncloa Palace on October 13, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. May's visit to Rajoy is part of a tour around Europe holding meetings with the main EU country leaders to discuss the impact of Brexit. Spain host the most British expats in the European Union. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)](http://web.archive.org./web/20161023142453im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/5/e/2/2/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476829065866.png)
Photo: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez
British Prime Minister Theresa May has arrived in Belgium, promising Britain will stick close to the EU. She called for unity in pressuring Russia over its "sickening atrocities" in Syria. [Reuters]
Britain sent warships to shadow Russian warships in the English Channel. [AP]
5. Mosul advance making quick gains
![Iraqi soldiers are seen outside the city of Mosul on Wednesday, on the third day of the battle to retake the city from IS.](http://web.archive.org./web/20161023142453im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/i/e/2/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476955437664.png)
Iraqi soldiers are seen outside the city of Mosul on Wednesday. Photo: AP
The Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi forces have advanced towards Mosul faster than expected and are now just about 10 kilometres from Islamic State's stronghold. [The Guardian]
6. New Nintendo console
![switch](http://web.archive.org./web/20161023142453im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/7/9/s/1/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1476979810000.png)
Nintendo Switch is part tablet part console and can play a brand new Super Mario game. [Tim Biggs/Fairfax]
And that's it from me for a little while. I'm taking a few weeks off to head back to Australia for a family wedding, a little scuba diving on the reef and a visit back to Parliament House in November. Double Shot will resume from November 7. I can never guarantee to be social media free when on leave however, so make sure you follow me on Facebook to keep in touch.
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