Leadership tensions with the Federal Coalition reached crisis point overnight, with Australian Prime Minister John Howard categorically ruling out Treasurer Peter Costello as the obvious succesor to the top job. Howard has instead endorsed a relatively new face in his cabinet--Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117--as the man most likely to become Prime Minister when Howard retires sometime in his next term should the Coalition win the upcoming election.

　　Howard and Master Chief discussing Australia's carbon emissions policy.

　　OK, so the above may not actually be true, but Howard did meet up with Master Chief earlier this week. The Prime Minister had "won" a new Xbox 360 through the Footy Show "That's Gold" competition (that's the NSW Footy Show), and decided to donate the prize to the St Alban's Community Centre in Epping, NSW. Microsoft was on hand to take some snaps of the handover, and even brought along their star character for a photo opportunity.

　　The Prime Minister also took the time out while at the community centre to try Halo 3 on for himself. GameSpot AU asked the Prime Minister's office for further details--including what level he was playing at and what Howard's gamertag is, but had not received a response as of the time of publication.

　　Howard woos young voters through the power of the headshot.