Here's the footage of the Belle telling Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella that evil thoughts will turn her baby into a demon. In the face of hard evidence, Belinda Neal's tactic appears to be "deny, deny, deny". Is there a pattern here?

When it comes to thinking on her feet, I reckon the Belle needs a Zimmer frame.

Of course, Mrs Mirabella deserves everything she gets. The woman's too extreme right even for the Liberal Party. Her decision to boycott the apology to The Stolen Generation makes my blood boil. The reason she gave was that Victoria had no official policy on removing indigenous children from their families and that there is no evidence it was ever undertaken. But that's absolute pigheaded bullshit.

My sources in the left faction of the ALP tell me they consider Della to be an "upstanding bloke" whose friends in state parliament are many. They further state, "It's all her," in reference to the Belle. That this is the view of socialist-leaning Labor staffers indicates that Della's modus operandi is far from the political thuggery and bullying he's been accused of recently. More likely, he engages in affable diplomacy and openness. This seems to support claims by those close to Della that his judgement is usually fairly solid, but flies out the window when it comes to matters concerning his wife.

But is it spousal loyalty or the fear of spousal retribution? 

There has been little news of significance in the past week concerning Della and the Belle's actions at Iguana's Waterfront and subsequent alleged manipulation of the truth/justice, except of course that the police investigation into the dodgy stat decs is underway, and that the Belle's staffer Melissa Batten has resigned and is ready to spill her guts over the whole sorry saga. She's already blown the lid on the fact that while Della and the Belle produced stat decs from their dinner companions supporting their story, there were three other stat decs from dinner companions which supported the Iguana's version of events, including Batten's.

Since then, the papers have let the story rest somewhat, aware that readers tend to switch off when the speculation outweighs the new information coming to light (no doubt also due to an inability to gain access to Batten, who one would expect has been paid for exclusivity). This week, however, that will change. The media will whip itself into a frenzy from tomorrow, Tuesday, June 24. There will be renewed cries for the Belle's head and Kevin Rudd will almost certainly give her the boot following tonight's episode of A Current Affair, in which Batten tells all (let's hope she doesn't taint her credibility by accepting payment!). Kevin Rudd has learnt from Iemma's failings in the affair that hesitation is weakness, and inaction is suicide. As such, he has taken the 'tough headmaster' approach by declaring that he will have no problem turfing Neal from the ALP if the allegations against her are true. He's called his shot and will have no choice but to go through with it, pending tonight's revelations.

Note that the Herald article linked to above falsely suggests that Batten made a stat dec supporting Della and the Belle, then withdrew it. She in fact made a stat dec that did not support them, and as such it was withheld by the gruesome twosome.

In a victory for the left faction, Della has just swallowed the cyanide pill and quit the ministry, or at least that's what the headline says.

But just how unaware was Iemma that Della penned the apology himself? Time will tell.

UPDATE: Minutes before I posted this, smh.com.au's headline was asking something along the lines of "Jumped or pushed?". It seems that immediately after Iemma announced he was standing Della down pending an investigation (meaning he could be reinstated if cleared), Della fronted the media in Bathurst, where he continued to deny any wrongdoing and claimed to have decided to step aside following discussions with Iemma. At 4:46pm, two hours after the news broke, the smh.com.au's story was updated with a more definitive headline ("Iguanagate: Della Dumped"), although the story isn't so sure and still begins, "Education Minister John Della Bosca has quit the ministry..."

Is there no end to the conflicting reports that surround this story? With the SMH failing to point out the contradictions, it appears the paper has become confused by what this observer sees as Iemma and Della's method of having things both ways - i.e. Della has 'done the right thing' and stood aside, while Iemma has simultaneously shown strong leadership and forced him out. The public could be forgiven for not knowing what to believe anymore.

A Goth/witch blogger with the comically predictable handle of Raven Black provides instructions for casting an array of "binding spells", including a "freezer binding spell" similar to the one the Belle is said to be fond of, apparently for silencing her enemies, of which there must be hordes. 

Here's the recipe for those cooking at home:

· Piece of paper and a pen
· Black thread or string
· Small watertight container

It's best done just after t he Full Moon, or at least while the moon is waning, and in my experience at least,
needs to be renewed every month or when the person starts bothering you again. Write the name of the person
you wish to prevent from harming you on a piece of paper. Gaze at the paper and visualize the face of the
person in question; see their face vividly imprinted on the paper. Then, fold the paper three times. Tie it up with
black thread or string, and put into a small watertight container (baby food jars are ideal). Fill the container with
water, and place in a nook of the freezer where it's unlikely to be disturbed, saying: “Stay there and freeze as
long as I please."

Mr Rudd ought to take note of another incantation Raven Black provides instructions for, aimed at binding trouble makers, although not if he wants to shake his Harry Potter image.

Home hexers beware:

"Be so careful with binding spells. They are the worst spells to have come back three fold. Your intent must be pure. You can't go around binding up everyone who pisses you off. Only bind when you are in physical or emotional trouble. If you're in serious danger from a person, consider contacting police, psychiatrist etc. Be safe, be smart!

It looks like the Belle copped a fistful of three-fold, dear readers.

According to the Telegraph, unnamed party sources are tipping a suspension from cabinet for Della when Morris Iemma addresses the media this afternoon. It seems Iemma is only delaying the inevitable, as with each day it looks more and more likely that the Iguanas incident will be Della's Chappaquiddick. My prediction is that Della will remain the right faction's 'bother boy' behind the scenes, but just as no amount of power and influence could make Ted Kennedy a viable presidential candidate, no amount of power and influence among his peers will render Della publicly electable in the future.

Meanwhile, the Herald is sticking to its earlier "could be" prediction of an outright portfolio strip.

Following Della and the Belle's alleged public meltdown at Iguanas Waterfront last Friday night, not to mention the apparent corruption tied to implications of misleading threats to have the club shut down, aggressive and misleading legal threats in order to gain an apology, Della's self-penning of said apology, Della's denial and later admission of penning said apology, Della and the Belle's friends' contradictory statutory declarations making it a police matter, and more et ceteras than even a Siamese king could manage, there is little choice for federal Labor but to dump the Belle if they want to stand any chance of winning Robertson at the next election.

The swinging seat was a surprise win to Labor at the last election, and some say the only reason the Belle was given the candidature was that no-one thought she'd win. Given her soaring unpopularity in Robertson, notably within ALP circles, she has next to no chance of retaining that seat, so wouldn't the obvious choice be for Prime Minister Rudd to disendorse her and run a more favourable Labor candidate against her at the next election? If the Belle is the ALP candidate, there is little doubt the ALP will lose the seat, which it won in '07 with the narrowest of margins.

She's poison.

According to the Telegraph, the left-faction in NSW Labor is preparing its assault on Iemma's leadership, with speculation that attempts are afoot to replace the premier with prominent left identity Carmel Tebbutt, whose marriage to federal member for Grayndler Anthony Albanese would surely increase the chances of building some sort of harmony between NSW and federal Labor.

Such a move would effectively put a halt to the NSW Liberal Party's plans to take Labor's traditional place as the party of choice for little-L liberals in NSW. With the right dominating NSW Labor, O'Farrell's proposed reforms would surely see the NSW Liberals sit further to the left than Labor, picking up the votes of many who voted ALP in the last federal election. In the wake of John Howard, could it be that the only sensible option for either side is to shift further left?

That's the phrase I texted to my girlfriend this morning after reading the morning news that the apology letter used by Morris Iemma to clear Della's name was, in fact, written by Della himself. And this after Della's people denied such claims just 24 hours earlier. Cutting Della loose now seems the only option for the troubled Iemma, whose ability to maintain public confidence in the right-dominated NSW Labor Party is slipping with each new (bad) decision. Sure enough, the Sydney Morning Herald has since declared today Della's D-Day.

Black Friday would have been a more obvious choice for the sub-editors, but then this goes further than mere bad luck.

Q: What's on the menu at Chez Della today?

A: Just des(s)erts.