The chances of Bridget McKenzie voluntarily falling on her own sword over the sports grant scandal are slim.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They're on a par with Angus Taylor standing down from cabinet while federal police investigate the dodgy documents imbroglio or Craig Kelly quitting Parliament after delivering a heartfelt apology for making a goose of himself, the Morrison government and the nation in that order.
It just isn't going to happen. This is despite the fact political convention, commonsense and anything resembling a sense of common decency all suggest it would be best for the Victorian senator to exit stage left.
This parliament has a long time left to run. Her term does not expire until 2022. A voluntary departure now would leave the stage clear for her to return in the second or third act by which time a whole new list of scandals would have made "sportsgate" a distant memory.
That said, the senator, no stranger to scandal as a result of an alleged travel allowance breach in 2017, has made it clear she intends to brazen this out.
It's hard not to conclude that one of the reasons for this is that she has the tacit support of her own party leadership and the Prime Minister.
Morrison, who has failed to take any action against Taylor or Kelly, is in no rush to remove her from the cabinet.
There are a couple of reasons for this; the first being he and Michael McCormack were the direct beneficiaries of McKenzie's pork barrelling.
The Coalition did, after all, win the unwinnable election by effectively targeting key marginal seats.
The second reason is that if Morrison did sack her from the cabinet he would then face the challenge of coming up with a new agriculture minister.
Given Barnaby Joyce is no longer on the Christmas card list the cupboard is looking pretty bare. The Coalition lost a significant amount of talent ahead of the last election with Christopher Pyne, Julie Bishop and several others choosing to explore what Prince Harry would call "new and more progressive" roles for themselves.
With the exception of a few standouts such as Josh Frydenberg and Marise Payne, there is a bit of a sense of the "B team" about the current front bench lineup.
The ALP is going through all the motions associated with offended righteousness.
The ALP, while it is going through all the motions usually associated with offended righteousness, aren't, and won't, make too much of this because of the glass house syndrome.
History has shown that when given the opportunity they are more than ready, willing and able to run grant scams such as this themselves.
McKenzie's offence, while outrageous to most people, particularly those whose worthy projects were denied the funding they deserved, mightn't raise too many eyebrows behind closed doors in the big house on the hill.
It is pretty much standard operating procedure for the more pragmatic minions paid to devise clever ways to game the public purse for the benefit of their political masters.
As far as they may be concerned, McKenzie is guilty of something far worse than interfering in the distribution of grants to obtain electoral advantage; she was caught.
The only real threat to her career comes from the crossbenchers. Pauline Hanson is already baying for the blood of a high profile National. Others will quickly join the chorus.
If, on consideration, Morrison concludes he needs crossbench senators' votes more than he needs his deputy's deputy then McKenzie's days in the cabinet are numbered.