With Labor on an election war-footing, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made a surprise visit to Australia's troops in Afghanistan.
But the bigger surprise was the presence of Therese Rein - the first wife of a PM ever to visit a war zone.
Mr Rudd and Ms Rein spent four hours on Saturday at the main Australian Defence Force base at Tarin Kowt, which will be closed by the end of 2013 with about 1000 troops returning home.
Ms Rein was given briefings on aid work and a viewing of military hardware.
But she was stumped when Major Darren Symons, from 2 Cavalry Task Force, started talking about the "hard right shoulder".
"I'm not familiar with that," she said.
He explained it is a term used for an immovable point - in this case, the firm December 31 deadline for the closure of the Tarin Kowt base.
Ms Rein has a family connection to the military. Her father was wounded while serving as a flight navigator in World War II.
It was Mr Rudd's sixth visit to the country as a politician.
Addressing the troops at the base, he said he had come to say "thank you" for their sacrifice and effort.
"It's about time we brought you back," he said.
But he said Australia had a vital continuing mission.
About 300 troops will remain in Afghanistan after the end of the year.
These include 75 instructors and support staff and security personnel at the Afghan National Army (ANA) officer academy in Kabul and about 50 personnel in Kandahar advising the ANA.
Special forces are also expected to continue to have a role, which is still being worked out in talks with Afghan authorities.
Chief of the defence force David Hurley, who was also on the tour, said one of the more outstanding statistics was the building of 200 schools in the province.
Provincial governor Akhundzada, who met with Mr Rudd, said there had been an "80 per cent" improvement in the province over a decade.
But he warned "the war on terror won't end overnight".
Australia has had a permanent presence in Tarin Kowt since 2005 and about three-quarters of the base has now been dismantled.
The bulk of United States troops are due to leave the country by the end of 2014, when the Afghan forces take on full responsibility for security.
The size of the international "training and enabling" force to be left behind is yet to be decided.
Forty Australian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002, with 257 wounded including 11 this year.
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