The shifting pattern of broken promises and unlikely alliances that holds together Federal parliament is at crisis point. The balance of power is on a knife edge and the fate of the government rests on the outcome of criminal investigations - and the mind set that finally prevails for certain individuals.
What will amuse many people is the clear spectacle of " the chickens coming home to roost" that is afflicting the Prime Minister's negotiations with Andrew Wilkie.
They remember the days of horse trading when the voter's delivered a hung parliament and Labor commenced making " deals " with the Greens and the independents to secure a paper thin majority. It was an unsavoury business. Labor caved in to the Greens demand for a carbon tax that had been a pivot point in the pre-election promises to the electorate - and a firm promise was blatantly broken to gain power.
The independents acted like a pack of bandits, demanding outrageous amounts of money be spent in their electorates as the " thirty pieces of silver " to pay for their capitulation. In the case of Tasmanian Andrew Wilkie, the Prime Minister gave a promise to implement a draconian form of poker machine control to protect problem gamblers from self harm.
It was all downhill from that point. Accusations of illicit union spending on prostitutes tainted one sitting member and Labor launched an ingenious coup when it coaxed a dissident Liberal to take the speakers chair. It was painfully obvious that the public disapproved of the shambles that passed for government policy - and then came a challenge from ousted former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who sought to wrest back his former position.
The opinion polls are recording a government so on the nose with voters that all the independents are having second thoughts, and the backbenchers are starting to panic after the massacre that wipecd out Labor in the recent Queensland state election.
It is rumoured that the Prime Minister is demanding that Andrew Wilkie give her his promise that under no circumstances will he vote with the opposition in the event of a move to block supply - or a loss of confidence issue. It seems that we are back to horse trading - and on the table is a fabulous amount of money to upgrade the Tasmanian health system.
Some will wonder just what value is placed on these sort of promises, given that the Prime Minister's original promise on poker machine reform was so blatantly broken when the appointment of a Liberal speaker gave her a cushion of reprieve on the tight numbers situation.
And many will wonder what happened to " principle " when it became an issue of exchanging money for votes !
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