Call me a contrarian, but Canberra’s jihad against consultants has turned into an ideological battle over outsourcing and apparent calls for the public sector to have its monopoly over advice to ministers reinstalled.

A fight between Labor and Greens senators to impale first PwC, and now the big consulting houses, has become a McCarthy-like vendetta, as senators express indignation at how well consultants are paid, and allege – largely unspecified – conflicts of interest.