Frustration has been the main theme of federal politics this week, and not without reason.
Labor's frustration with Operation Sovereign Borders spectacularly exploded in Senate estimates.
Opposition defence spokesman Stephen Conroy accused the decorated soldier in charge of stopping the boats, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, of being engaged in a political cover-up.
Campbell took great offence and while Senator Conroy withdraw the remark he did not apologise.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop attempted to spread the blame for the attack to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, calling on him to sack his Labor Right factional ally from the frontbench and accusing him of having "unleashed this dog of war".
Shorten reacted furiously, blasting the government over its faux patriotism and hiding behind military leaders rather than being accountable for its own boat policy.
The most perceptive comment in the debate came from defence force chief David Hurley who told another estimates hearing that the shadow of the slur would linger.
While Hurley was talking specifically about the Conroy accusations against Campbell, he could have been talking about other debates over the week.
One of the "shadows" lingering over the government is the appointment of a junk food industry lobbyist as chief of staff to Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash, one of whose key roles is standards for healthy food.
Nash was grilled in estimates hearings over how Alistair Furnival came to be appointed and why - given that he had assured her in writing there would be no conflicts of interest - he remained a director and shareholder of the lobby group for months after starting the government job.
Furnival resigned after a number of controversial decisions were made in the minister's office, including the removal of a new food rating website opposed by his lobby group's clients.
But the minister ducked and weaved as Labor's grand inquisitor John Faulkner sought to determine whether Nash had offered her own resignation to the prime minister.
Tony Abbott denied having had any conversation with the minister about her quitting, but Nash declined to say whether she had spoken with anyone in the PM's office - the usual conduit for bad news.
A clearly frustrated Abbott shook his head in parliament and said: "This is not so much a storm in a teacup, it's not even a zephyr in a thimble - it's nothing."
Faulkner and Senate colleague Penny Wong won't be dropping the matter, which they say is fundamental to the integrity of government.
The government's legislative program is also becoming a point of frustration, but may ease once the makeup of the Senate changes on July 1.
The prime minister has virtually given up on the Senate passing the carbon and mining tax repeal bills, but Environment Minister Greg Hunt was effectively able to wedge Labor on the issue of cancelling carbon permit auctions - exposing a crack in the opposition's climate policy.
Labor decided not to join the Greens in disallowing the axing of the auctions, which are a key plank of carbon pricing, because there would have been little industry interest in them given the government's razing of the scheme.
Hunt is now likely to consider other non-legislative measures to chip away at the carbon tax during what he calls the Senate's "industrial go-slow" on debating bills.
The next major hurdle for the government will be dealing with the fallout from the decision by Qantas to axe 5000 jobs in the wake of a $252 million half-year loss.
The national carrier is frustrated it has to compete against Virgin with its hands tied by the Qantas Sale Act, which forces it to be majority Australian owned and keep the bulk of its operations onshore.
The government appears reluctant to provide a debt guarantee, but is working on changing the Act to allow majority foreign ownership and the shifting of some jobs offshore to cut costs.
Such a guarantee, says Abbott, if offered to Qantas would also have to be offered to other companies coming cap in hand to the government.
Labor is in favour of debt guarantee, but not the law changes.
Abbott is hoping the fresh Senate election in Western Australia will add to the government's allies in the upper house and ease the frustration after July.
But it'll remain a hard slog to negotiate the six crossbench votes to overcome the roadblocks in delivering on his promises.
