"So... Does This Mean We Can't Fly My Husband Down For The Boxing Day Test And Sit In The Trustee's Suite With Dan Andrews And Everyone?"

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

A humid silence filled the Prime Minister's office at Kirribilli House this afternoon after Minister Anika Wells closed the door and asked the one question he had been dreading.

"So… does this mean we cannot fly my husband down for the Boxing Day Test and sit in the Trustee’s Suite with Dan Andrews and everyone," she said.

"Albie?"

The Prime Minister did not answer.

He simply bowed his head, pressed a hand into his forehead and let out a long groan that suggested he had aged a decade in the past week.

He looked up at the framed photo of his younger self standing beside Tom Uren. A reminder of when politics felt noble. Then he turned to the window and stared out at the Sirius building in The Rocks. Another sigh. Longer.

According to staffers nearby, the PM slipped into the same internal monologue that has been haunting him since the travel scandals began. Australians are expected to respect their elected officials. That respect is earned through service. If ministers behave like the rules exist to pamper them, how can they expect the public to respect the offices they hold. Respect cannot flow one way.

He thought about cost of living. He thought about families who cannot afford flights at all, let alone business class. He thought about how many times he could keep telling journalists everything was "within the rules" knowing full well that the rules were the problem.

Behind him, Wells smiled and waited for an answer.

She did not get one.

At time of writing, the Prime Minister was still staring at the Sirius building, wondering why the hardest part of the job was yet to come.

More to come.