On the same day yesterday, the leaders of the two largest states, NSW's Gladys Berejiklian and Victoria's Dan Andrews, faced calls for votes of no confidence.

And in Queensland, the election campaign of the opposition leader, Deb Frecklington, was sideswiped by reports of her referral, apparently by her own party, to an election watchdog over suspect fundraising.

While in Sydney Ms Berejiklian has attracted the most publicity following revelations about her relationship with former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire, down in Melbourne Mr Andrews is fighting on two fronts.

His most immediate crisis was the resignation of his right-hand man, the former secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Chris Eccles on Monday.

This followed the revelation Mr Eccles phoned the then Victorian police commissioner, Dan Ashton, during planning for Melbourne's hotel quarantine system. This contradicted testimony he had given to the hotel quarantine inquiry.

The question being asked is who knew what, and when, about the decision to use private security guards in the quarantine hotels.

Those hotels were the source of Victoria's second wave COVID-19 outbreak which has claimed almost 800 lives and kept Melbourne in lockdown for nearly 100 days.

That time in lockdown is Mr Andrews' second major headache. How much longer are Melbournians going to put up with it given even the state's new health minister says the target for lifting restrictions is unachievable?

Recent polling indicates Australians are now far less supportive of lockdowns than they were in July, and are concerned they are being kept in place for too long.

The crisis in New South Wales is arguably more complex given the waters are muddied by questions over where a politician's private life ends and their public life begins.

Also, Ms Berejiklian, who testified about her relationship with Mr Maguire at ICAC on Monday, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

That said, serious questions are being asked about her judgement given she chose to maintain the relationship, a closely guarded secret not even shared with cabinet colleagues, for years after Mr Maguire was forced to quit Parliament over, as yet, unproved allegations of corruption in 2018.

Ms Berejiklian, who gave every indication she would stand and fight for her job on Tuesday, is assisted by the fact the NSW Labor party is no stranger to ICAC and has skeletons of its own.

Her other significant asset is that she is highly regarded as a person, a politician, and as a premier, and is widely viewed as the best person to lead the nation's largest state during this difficult time.

It remains to be seen if the electorate buys her defence that: "I made horrible mistakes in my personal and private life... I trusted someone who didn't deserve my trust" and "I will repay (the support I have received) by working my guts out for the people of this state".

If voters rally behind her there is a reasonable chance the Premier will survive. If the polls turn it will be another matter entirely.

Regardless of what happens to either Mr Andrews, Ms Berejiklian, or Ms Frecklington, this widespread political turmoil could not have come at a worse time.

Australia desperately needs strong social cohesion, state and national leadership, and a functional national cabinet right now. The events of the last two days place all of those in unnecessary jeopardy.