It seems gender politics in Australia is alive and well, with a flurry of stories about Julia Gillard’s earlobes, outfits and whether or not a wedding is on the horizon. After all, don’t all women want to get married? And if not why not? So why has the focus been on the earrings and not the policies - and does this reflect the fact that Australia isn’t quite ready to have a woman running the country? Featured in story: Jackie Cook Program Director of media culture and the professional doctorate in communications at the University of South Australia’s School of Communications and Crikey’s Canberra Correspondent Bernard Keane.

Julia Gillard claims she is especially attune to mental health issues because her father was a psyichiatric nurse. After years of inaction under Rudd, the government announced yesterday a new mental health policy which includes $227 million for suicide prevention. However, mental health experts say this is just more electioneering. In this story: Louise Newman, President of the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists; and Shadow Minister for mental health, Kevin Humphreys.

Australia is usually a global leader in protecting marine environments at risk, a job which is made harder by pollution, climate change and marine traffic disruptions. A policy u-turn by the coalition could see them under further threat. In this report: Darren Kindleysides, Director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society; Richard Colbeck, Coalition spokesperson for Fisheries and Katharina Fabricius, Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Everyone on Newstart Allowance could have half their payments quarantined if the coalition wins the election. Opposition leader Tony Abbott wants to extend an existing scheme under which the federal government quarantines welfare payments to people in the Northern Territory. Mr Abbott says if the scheme is good for the NT, it's good for the country. In this story: Maree O'Hallaran, Director of the Welfare Rights Centre.

Asylum seeker policy is always a hot topic during an election, and this year the talk is about a regional solution. The policy of processing refugees offshore is a contentious one, and it seems even refugee advocates are divided about it. Oxfam has today announced that it supports the idea of a regional solution as long as it meets certain criteria. In this story - Julian Burnside QC and Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition.