In a run of days that saw Prime Minister Tony Abbott dodge an attempt on his leadership, promise to set a new direction and treat his backbench in a more collegial and consultative manner, it only took a couple of fiery sessions of Question Time and some analysis of poor political behaviour to see  that, really, nothing had changed.

There was the play of semantics over the submarine program which raised suspicions weasel words were back in play in the nation’s capital, further eroding ordinary folks’ trust in the political process. 

There was a walkout by a group of government MPs during Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s speech on the Closing The Gap report. Shorten’s offence? He stated that large budget cuts to programs that helped Indigenous Australians would make closing the gap harder.

On Thursday, Mr Abbott’s judgment again appeared in the spotlight when he likened job losses under Labor governments to the Holocaust – a highly offensive comment which he later withdrew.

Also on Thursday came news that highly respected US think tank the Council on Foreign Relations had described Mr Abbott’s leadership as the most incompetent of any head of an industrialised democracy, singling out his “coarse rhetoric” for special mention.

Of course, neither party has a monopoly on poor political behaviour but right now it seems the government is demonstrating the lion’s share of it. It’s unlikely to help its low standing not just in the Australian electorate but on the world stage either.

Voters are tiring of the destructive antics, the dumbed down sloganeering, the tricky weasel words and the puerile behaviour. They want the effective, adult government promised them in 2013 that is yet to be delivered.