Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack told reporters on Tuesday his home town of Wagga Wagga was "the nation's capital," leaving many of us in the Australian Capital Territory scratching our heads.
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It's left Chief Minister Andrew Barr offering Wagga a few words of warning, while of course wishing the "newly minted nation's capital" all the best.
It all started with a press conference with Mr McCormack confirming Scott Morrison was on holidays and he was now sitting in the big chair - and making a bit of a bold geographical claim.
"Wagga Wagga of course back in the early 1900s had its hand up to be the nation's capital, well it's taken a bit over a hundred years and it is finally the nation's capital," Mr McCormack said.
"But look, it's great to be actually acting Prime Minister from my home town. I love Wagga Wagga, I was born here and only two federal members have ever served Wagga Wagga in the federal parliament from our city, born in our city."
Has the capital city moved?
While Canberra is blanketed in a thick haze of smoke this week, making it hard to see Parliament House, it is definitely still there, as is Old Parliament House and all the other national institutions that make up the capital.
Google still says we're the capital, so that's a start.
So, what about Mr McCormack's other claims?
Was Wagga Wagga really in the running after federation?
According to the National Archives, Wagga was visited by senators and members of the House of Representatives in March and May 1902 respectively as they inspected possible capital sites. The list was long at that stage and included Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Bombala, Dalgety, Goulburn, Gundagai, Lyndhurst, Orange, Queanbeyan, Tumut, Wagga Wagga and Yass.
So yes, Wagga had its hand up, we'll give the Acting PM that.
After those initial inspections it was Dalgety that was suggested as the new capital in 1904, before being discounted for being too close to Melbourne and too far to Sydney.
And then eventually Canberra was picked, with Lady Denman sealing the deal, announcing Canberra won the honour on Wednesday, March 12, 1913.
Does where the prime minister lives make a difference to where the capital is?
No. If it did, Canberra would actually be struggling to keep the title. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his family are based in Sydney - his daughters are still in school there. Before him, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott were both based in Sydney as well.
If you want to know more about how The Lodge has been somewhat shunned by prime ministers in recent years, check this out.
Is Wagga even ready to be the capital?
We asked ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr what he made of Mr McCormack's comment, and he had a word of warning for the Deputy Prime Minister's beloved capital (of the Riverina):
"I wish Wagga all the best as the newly minted nation's capital. As a word of warning, Wagga residents should now expect to be blamed for all the decisions of the federal government and have their jobs shifted to other regions. They should also lower their expectations on receiving their fair share of national infrastructure spending."
And we haven't even started on what could be going on in the Wagga bubble. So nice try, Acting PM.
Sally Whyte
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
