Adem Somyurek savaged his own party on Tuesday when he was forced to resign as Victoria's small business minister over allegations he bullied his chief of staff.
What a difference a day makes.
A day after calling on the deputy premier and Education Minister James Merlino to step aside, Mr Somyurek issued a statement describing the imbroglio as a tiff in the "big and occasionally noisy" Labor family.
Mr Somyurek was forced to resign by Premier Daniel Andrews over the bullying claims, which he denies.
As he departed he said Mr Merlino has to step down because he is taking orders from the boss of the powerful right-wing union, the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association.
Mr Merlino is an SDA member and so was Mr Somyurek until he left in April.
Mr Somyurek said the union helped to orchestrate the bullying allegations.
But in a statement tweeted late Wednesday, Mr Somyurek thanked Mr Andrews, department secretaries and staff, ministerial staff and his parliamentary colleagues for their support while he was a minister.
Then he moved to scotch the controversy over his parting spray on Tuesday.
"The Labor family is a big and occasionally noisy one," he said.
"We can have our differences and work through them.
"That's what I'll be doing, in addition to continuing to work hard for the people of the southeast who deserve representatives focused on their concerns and winning good outcomes for them by implementing the big agenda of the Andrews Labor government."
Mr Somyurek's apparent mea culpa comes after Ms Andrews dismissed questions about the future of his deputy, James Merlino, a member of the powerful right-wing.
"(He will) continue to be an outstanding deputy premier and an outstanding Minister for Education," Mr Andrews said on Wednesday.
"The suggestion that any group has had undue influence on me or my team is simply nonsense."
Mr Andrews also batted away questions about whether Mr Somyurek would be expelled from Labor.
"Properly, appropriately, rightly he has paid a very heavy price, I don't think anybody could deny that," Mr Andrews said.
"I'd be confident that he would attend to his duties as a member of the government as a backbencher."
Mr Somyurek was suspended and then forced to resign after an investigation found he grabbed the arm and chin of his chief of staff Dimity Paul and sacked a colleague who stood up for her.
He denies the bullying and intimidation allegations and questioned the credibility of former County Court Justice Michael Strong, who prepared a report on the investigation.
Labor caucus will meet on Friday to decide Mr Somyurek's replacement.
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