During his industrial relations portfolios under John Howard, an antagonistic and pejorative demeanour often created unnecessary dissent and invariably failed to resolve conflict.

The brutal tactics typically favoured the low road of sloganeering and may have been successful while serving in opposition although the measure of any person is what they do with power, especially if it is used destructively.

Moreover, if your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail, which was quite evident during his public humiliation and excoriation of Professor Gillian Triggs, the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, following her humanitarian Forgotten Children report.

During the 2013 federal election campaign the Member for Warringah engaged in some classic Orwellian doublespeak.

He proclaimed his party’s notorious WorkChoices legislation was dead, buried and cremated but categorically refused to exclude any amendments to industrial relations law.

Following the election, the oppressive agenda was promptly regurgitated and deceptively marketed as a fashionable accord and cunningly rebranded as the gig economy, which is no better than indentured servitude, peonage, blackbirding or serfdom.

This involved extensive uberisation of the workface and reconfiguration of employer and employee relationships. It obfuscated common law duty of care principles and included widespread exploitation of temporary migrants.

Many of the embellished McJobs from accredited job service providers merely offered erratic and fluctuating incomes without any prospects of career development and invariably involved wage theft, underpayment and underemployment.

Notwithstanding the successful completion of a Rhodes scholarship, the Brisbane G20 summit tested our prime minister’s oratory skills and credentials on a global stage and his delivery of the opening address was an embarrassing and abysmal failure.

It placed an inordinate emphasis on domestic issues and was littered with non-sequiturs that bewildered many of the international delegates.

Moreover, the forgettable promise on shirtfronting President Putin during the summit over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 never materialised and confirmed the renowned head kicker was merely full of piss and vinegar.

A string of mediocre opinion polls indicated his halo was slipping and support from several cabinet ministers rapidly deteriorated over his dogmatic stance on climate change, same-sex marriage, and many other contentious issues.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, a fiery Parliamentary Secretary for Social Services, delivered the prime minister a stern rebuke over hiking on the Appalachian trail and discussing matters with his omnipotent and bewitching chief of staff.

The profligate Speaker for the House of Representatives and former member for Mackellar is an extremely close friend of Margie Abbott but has maintained a curious and dignified silence over the salacious revelations.

Meanwhile, a scornful federal member for Eden-Monaro obviously believed revenge was a dish best eaten cold and coordinated a clandestine gathering just across the ACT border at his home in Queanbeyan.

The enigmatic night of the long knives was attended by several acolytes of the member for Wentworth and former chairman of Axiom Forest Resources.

The fecund mad monk developed policy impulsively and was incapable of providing authentic economic leadership that respected the electorate’s intelligence.

It required advocacy instead slogans to reflect commercial requirements and engender economic confidence in the business sector.

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