It is a cosy affair, full of agreement between the two men, where bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens would fit right in.

When in Canberra, Morrison then retires to the Mural Hall at Parliament House for a doorstop with journalists who are not Hadley.

On Monday, among questions about same-sex marriage (what the hell is going on there?) and the general direction of the government (ditto), ScoMo was asked about paid parental leave.

For anyone unsure of where the Coalition is up to on this one, a brief recap:

Earlier this year, the government binned its $5.5 billion plans to boost paid parental leave entitlements, which would have allowed (mostly) women to claim up to 26 weeks at their replacement wage. Instead, it now wants to cut the no-frills existing scheme, preventing women from accessing both the government payment of 18 weeks at the minimum wage and an employer scheme, if they have one.

This will mean about 80,000 women will lose payments from July 2016 and will save the budget about $1 billion over four years.

Apart from the fact that this is a Cirque du Soleil-quality back flip, there is a serious degree of uncertainty around whether it will pass the Senate, with Labor and the Greens opposed and the crossbench unconvinced. Added to the brew is criticism from a parliamentary committee and the Human Rights Commission about the proposed policy's fairness and compliance with human rights obligations.

So it is no wonder that questions abounded on the topic on Monday. But while Morrison's answers on Senate negotiations and the timing of the bill were predictably dismissive ("we are in discussions"), his response to human rights concerns was more curious. We guarantee it did not come from a ministerial point.

"It's certainly a First-World issue, let's put it that way," Morrison said of the PPL objections. "It's a First-World issue and I think Australians have more deep concerns than this."

Yeow.

With this "First-World issue" put down, the government has gone from advocating improvements to paid parental leave as a "signature" policy for social and economic empowerment (a "workplace entitlement"), to demeaning it as a trivial concern on par with people's complaints about iPad speed or the amount of cayenne in their kale shake.

Imagine if Tony Abbott or Joe Hockey said something like this? It would have gone down in the pantheon of Abbott's off-key comments about the ladies and Hockey's bum-notes about poor people. Twitter would have freaked so much, feathers would have burned.

But with Morrison, it caused nary a ripple.

On one hand, this is a fascinating insight into the fact that when you're up in politics, you're really up. With Abbott back in peril, Morrison is firming as the successor most likely. Hockey dunced himself out last year, Turnbull is still loathed by many of his colleagues (and seen as too much of a hippie anyway) and some MPs have cooled on the idea of a Bishop tilt.

But it can also be put down to the fact that the First-World remark came in the midst of the introduction of a cross-party bill on same-sex marriage, continued fuss pops over Dyson Heydon and a peach of an opinion poll for the government.

In a less crowded news cycle, there would have been more scrutiny of Morrison's musing. Because apart from the huge divorce it represents in Coalition rhetoric on PPL, it is also a very misleading thing to say.

Of course paid parental leave is not something that people who live without reliable drinking water are likely to advocate for as a first priority. Nor is it top of the list for those with no electricity or shelter. Nor for the millions of people worldwide who do not enjoy the peace, education, healthcare and welfare systems that we have in Australia.

(Although, it is worth noting that some 180 countries around the world provide for maternity leave to varying degrees, including some of the poorest, such as Mali, Pakistan and Haiti.)

But if you follow Morrison's logic, then most of what we see around Australian parliaments and political debates are by definition "First-World issues". We live in a developed country and so we are faced with issues that relate to that level of development. Indeed, as a minister, he is tasked with fixing them.

Consider the deluge of attention given to people not being able to afford to buy a house in Sydney. On Thursday, Morrison bought straight into the debate, in the wake of a report that found home ownership is becoming more and more unattainable for Australians.

"I don't believe the dream of an Australian home is dead," he soothed. "I think it is an aspiration that we want to ensure every Australian feels they can work towards … It is the dream I believe in, it is the dream the government believes in."

Government-funded nannies could similarly be dismissed as a First-World issue, along with how much money middle-income parents get for childcare, how fast our broadband is, how quickly we get back to surplus, tax breaks for small businesses, who gets a knighthood and who appears on Q&A.

Yes, in the hierarchy of needs, helping parents have children and stay in the workforce comes after food to eat and clothes to wear.

But that doesn't make concerns about how changing the policy will affect women and their families a kale-eater's whingey indulgence.