The most vocal critics would, after all, be the individuals and the companies concerned. That said, care must also be taken to avoid a disproportionate response. It's never a good idea to use a cannon to shoot mice.

The senator was attempting to address the long running and complex issues brought to the fore by the hiring of Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop by EY (formerly Ernst and Young) and Palladium respectively.

EY, it has been reported, has "lots of defence contracts". Mr Pyne was, until May, the defence minister. He had previously been the defence industry minister.

Palladium, which provides international development programs, is reported to hold "dozens of aid contracts" with DFAT. Ms Bishop had been the Foreign Affairs Minister from September 2013 to August last year.

Their new appointments, as commentator Paddy Gourley noted in these pages recently, did not pass the pub test in the eyes of many Australians.

While both Pyne and Bishop have arguably done the right thing by giving iron clad assurances they would not use or abuse information, contacts and access gained during their previous work for the Australian people to benefit a new employer, this has been greeted with a significant and not unexpected, degree of scepticism.

It is an unfortunate truth that public regard for politicians now stands at what is probably its lowest level since Federation. That means the public takes such assurances with a very large grain of salt.

The line that has been crossed here is the same one that led to Julius Caesar divorcing his wife of many years, Pompeia, after her name was publicly linked to that another man, Clodius. It was not enough for her to have been innocent he said; Caesar's wife should have been "above suspicion".

While this may seem to be an unreasonably high bar to some, such a standard does make sense when you consider that Pyne, Bishop and the many other ministers and politicians from both sides of the chamber who have trodden the same well-worn road, have been remunerated amply from the public purse for their services to the Australian people over many years.

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Neither of them would be on their uppers or in desperate need of funds given the generosity of the parliamentary superannuation scheme. They are hardly charity cases.

The very fact that the Senate is currently running an inquiry into the probity of the two appointments is a timely reminder to all concerned that even former MPs and ministers need to be mindful of public opinion. Pyne, Bishop and the Morrison government have all had their brands damaged by this latest episode.

This could have been avoided if a decent period of time had been allowed to elapse between their departure from the big house and their emergence as newly minted private enterprise champions. While there will always be gossip when a former minister, military officer or senior public servant goes to work for an entity or an individual who once depended on their good offices, timing is everything.

In the absence of a federal ICAC, which would have the power retrospectively vet such arrangements if grounds for complaint emerged, Senator Patrick's suggestion makes as much sense as anything put forward so far.

It is to be hoped, at the very least, the calling of the Senate inquiry will make others think twice about rushing into such arrangements in the immediate future.