The apparent double standard that is being applied to staffing levels in federal parliamentary offices is likely to make it significantly harder for the government to gain the support of key crossbenchers during what is likely to be the defining year of Anthony Albanese's leadership ahead of the federal election.
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Although 20 months have passed since independent and crossbench advisor numbers were controversially cut under the Prime Minister's discretion, those who were affected by the decision have long memories.
While the decision was defended as an austerity measure with affected parliamentarians being told "we are all taking cuts" it was widely regarded as a political manoeuvre designed to nobble the ability of crossbenchers to scrutinise legislation at the time.
The then newly minted ACT senator David Pocock was scathing in his criticism of a decision that effectively cut three quarters of the parliamentary staffing resource he had been expecting.
"[It] removes transparency, hinders the democratic process and reduces our ability to fully participate in parliament," he said at the time.
While crossbench staffer numbers were subsequently tweaked in the 2023 budget they are still well below what they had been under the Morrison government.
It comes as no surprise therefore that while non-government MPs and staffers, many of whom wish to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, are not happy with the "do as we say, not do as we do" approach that has been implemented by the Albanese government.
They find it hard to believe government claims "we are all taking cuts" given revelations the MOP(S) positions allocated to Labor MPs and Senators have increased by 17 from 472 last October to 489. And, to add insult to injury, the Prime Minister - the initiator of the 2022 reduction to staff entitlements - has been leading the charge. Words such as "hypocritical" and "galling" are circulating freely in the corridors.
Mr Albanese's MOP(S) staff allocation is not only one of the largest of any prime minister it is also notably top heavy when compared to past practice.
At the end of his second term the then Prime Minister Scott Morrison had 50.6 FTE staff. Of these between six and seven are believed to have been level 1 or senior advisers. Mr Albanese, who has acquired 7.4 new staff since last October, has 58. That is almost 15 per cent more. A total of 14 - or almost a quarter - of Mr Albanese's entourage are level 1. He has four "principal advisers" compared to the three retained by his predecessor.
The latest revelations of staffing "bracket creep" on the government side of the house are the result of a resources review into factors affecting workloads in parliamentarians' offices, especially electorate offices.
Areas under consideration include the growth in the population of many electorates, technological changes and recent trends regarding the use of volunteers and interns.
The review is particularly relevant given the recent debate over the "right to disconnect" IR reforms and well-documented evidence of the long hours being worked by many political staffers from all sides of the chamber.
While politicians and those who work most closely with them have long resigned themselves to being the butt of community criticism, the reality is the majority of those working in Parliament House put in an inordinate effort. And, thanks in large part to the 24-hour news cycle, many are expected to be available at any time of the night or day.
It would be to the Prime Minister's, and the ALP's, advantage if they took this opportunity to revisit staffing levels for crossbenchers in both houses.
A failure to do so runs the risk of reopening old wounds.
