After the mutually assured political destruction of last week, it would be a brave leader on either side of the chamber to be seeking a repeat of it.
But this is politics in a perpetual loop of shame.
The politicisation of sexual assault has become a legitimate partisan tool. The temptation to pursue it for advantage will be considerable.
Parliament could be easily subsumed again over this issue and the media’s appetite for more content may ensure that it is an issue that neither Labor nor the Liberals can avoid.
But who wins? The answer is no one. Particularly the alleged victims.
A detente is now likely. A come-to-Jesus moment for the federal parliament.
If the Coalition pursues its case against Finance Minister Katy Gallagher for misleading the Senate, then Labor will feel within its rights to go after the Coalition over former Liberal senator David Van.
And there will be more. The past hasn’t been fully examined from Labor’s point of view. There are still 56 questions on notice relating to the Brittany Higgins story that remained unanswered from the last term of parliament. Albanese hasn’t pursued them in government. But he could.
With Labor now having the numbers in the lower house, there is a range of procedural options it could pursue to further expose the Coalition, irrespective of the virtue it maintains in hunting Gallagher for misleading parliament over an alleged role in the politicisation of the Higgins allegations.
Albanese could easily use Labor’s numbers to force the release of the Gaetjens review under a call for documents. He could force the production of other material relating to the government’s handling of the Higgins allegations. While Peter Dutton himself has nothing to answer for, is it really a road he wants to go down? Sure, it would reflect on the previous Coalition administration but would Dutton be confident that his own team is up for the fight?
That decision will be made on Monday morning when the opposition’s leadership group meets to determine its political tactics for the week. Dutton, according to confidantes, has little appetite to pursue it further, despite the firm belief that it remains a legitimate line of inquiry to pursue Gallagher.
The likely outcome is that the Coalition continues its pursuit in the Senate but seeks to shift gears back to the economy and cost of living in the lower house.
And this is precisely where Albanese wants the debate to return, carving out housing as its central focus for the week.
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