The commencement of Australia’s 46th Parliament last week and the return to Canberra of its dependant enterprises (ours included) was a much-needed boon for the capital’s economy, Phil Lowe’s prayers for stimuli at least selectively answered.

It also served to grease the rumour mill. If we had a dollar for every shell-shocked Labor lobbyist beating a retreat from the ministerial wing, well, we wouldn’t need this job anymore. For schadenfreude, there’s nothing like election losses – and especially shock ones.