Tony Abbott announced a partial back down on Defence Force pay negotiations on Monday, and conceded ground on his promise not to cut funding to public broadcasters.
“I accept that what we’re doing with the ABC is at odds with what I said immediately prior to the election, but things have moved on,” he said.
An appearance on morning television on Tuesday didn’t go according to plan for Mr Abbott who got a grilling from Channel Nine’s Karl Stefanovic.
Opening on opinion polls putting Mr Abbott behind his opposition counterpart as preferred prime minister, Stefanovic said the budget was in shambles.
“No one is buying what you are selling,” he said.
But the pair had patched things up by Friday, when Mr Abbott told a Sydney radio station that “Karl’s a mate of mine and so it’s OK”.
‘Stick it’, press gallery
It was also rough week for Clive Palmer, who was again rattled by questions over a certain court case.
At the National Press Club on Monday the Member for Fairfax’s well-scripted promotion was derailed by questions over allegations he misused Chinese funds.
Mr Palmer told a News Corp journalist to “think for yourself” and refused to let him ask his allocated question.
“Why don’t you try to be an independent journalist?” he said.
“I'm not going to take that rubbish.”
Later in the week Mr Palmer addressed media over his support for legislation put forward by the immigration minister, but was again haunted by questions about his legal case.
The PUP leader soon stormed off, telling the gathered journalists to “stick it”.
Migration and moral lectures
It appears Scott Morrison may have taken a page out of Mr Palmer’s book, walking out of a Thursday press conference without taking questions.
He had more patience on Friday after his controversial amendment to asylum seeker legislation was passed, ensuring the reintroduction of temporary protection visas.
The bill – which passed 34 votes to 32 with the support of Senator Ricky Muir – was widely criticised by the opposition and Greens.
But Mr Morrison stood firm on Friday, saying he would “not take moral lectures from Bill Shorten or Sarah Hanson-Young”.
“They have proven themselves irrelevant and impotent when it comes to having solutions on border protection,” he said.
‘Senator Lazarus has swiped left’
Unlike the Immigration Minister, Christopher Pyne wasn’t having much luck with his legislation.
The Education Minister’s controversial bill to deregulate universities failed in the Senate on Tuesday, but not for want of trying.
Mr Pyne was reportedly dogged in his attempt to bring Palmer United Party senators onside, to the point where Glenn Lazarus asked him to stop “harassing” him.
“I am being inundated with text messages from Christopher Pyne virtually begging me to support the Abbott government's higher education reforms,” he said.
While students took to Parliament House to protest, the mobile messaging inspired a prankster to post the minister’s phone number online for voters to text. It was, of course, a fake.
“I have a message for Christopher Pyne: take a hint,” he said.
“Senator Lazarus has swiped left.”
But the ever-chipper Mr Pyne was undeterred.
Describing himself as “a good minister [who] worked very hard”, he introduced a new higher education bill into the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The final bite
Women ruled the roost in politics for a day as Julie Bishop stepped up to acting PM and Tanya Plibersek to acting opposition leader, while Mr Abbott and Mr Shorten attended the funeral of cricketer Phillip Hughes on Wednesday.
Ms Bishop announced the government’s first declared zone under new counter-terror laws, deeming it an offence to travel to or remain in Syria’s Al-Raqqa province without a legitimate reason.
As the parliamentary year wound to a close, politics was briefly put aside in the spirit of Christmas.
Recapping the political year, Mr Shorten took time to thank Mr Abbott for expressing his sympathies when his mother passed away.
“Just when I am at the point of complete frustration with the Prime Minister, he does something nice to surprise me,” he said.
Mr Abbott responded with warm wishes for the opposition, but saved the real praise for his chief of staff.
“I thank my staff led by Peta Credlin, the fiercest political warrior I've ever worked with,” he said.
It’s been a huge political year with many memorable quotes, but the last word is left to the Foreign Minister.
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