Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been texting his former colleagues from New York City and urging them to vote to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court, in a sign that Turnbull is definitely still bitter about that whole leadership spill thing two weeks ago.
When Turnbull lost his job recently (it already feels like an eternity), he made it clear he wasn't happy about Dutton's betrayal.
On the way out he managed to prevent Dutton from taking his job, by requiring a petition with 43 signatures to be delivered to him before he would call another party room meeting.
That gave Scott Morrison time to rally support and snatch the prime ministership from Dutton.
After resigning from parliament, Turnbull quickly left Australia for Manhattan where his wife Lucy owns an apartment. Unlike his son, the former PM had been relatively quiet about politics. Until last night.
While the press gallery and politicians were wining and dining at the annual Mid Winter Ball (held in Spring this year), Fairfax dropped the news that Turnbull had been texting and calling Liberal MPs and telling them they should vote to refer Dutton to the High Court over his eligibility to sit in parliament.
In the middle of the leadership shemozzle, Turnbull sought advice from the solicitor-general on whether Dutton was eligible to sit in parliament under section 44 of the Australian Constitution due to interests his family has in companies that run child care centres that get funding from the Commonwealth.
The solicitor-general advised that Dutton was "not incapable of sitting" in parliament, but the advice was not definitive.
Labor and Dutton have each released differing legal opinions about Dutton's eligibility. A vote in the House of Representatives is needed to refer Dutton to the High Court if Dutton refuses to refer himself. Only a few Liberals would either need to abstain from voting or cross the floor and vote with Labor and the crossbench to get Dutton referred.
Turnbull tweeted early on Thursday morning, Canberra time, that he had been asking Liberals to support the referral.
The point I have made to @ScottMorrisonMP and other colleagues is that given the uncertainty around Peter Dutton’s eligibility, acknowledged by the Solicitor General, he should be referred to the High Court, as Barnaby was, to clarify the matter.
But the new prime minister isn't so keen. Morrison said at a press conference on Thursday that while "all contributions should be gratefully received", he would be making the decisions.
"I think people have had enough of the lawyers' picnics on these sort of issues and they want to focus completely and totally on what the nation needs here and now," he said.
Dutton told 2GB radio on Thursday that Turnbull only ever raised the s44 issues during the leadership week, and that he thinks Turnbull should be more like former prime minister John Howard in his interventions in the politics of the day.
"I hope that Mr Turnbull is able to enjoy his retirement and contribute to the Liberal party ... in the way John Howard has," he said.
"I think John Howard’s got the gold standard here. I think he conducts himself with dignity and I hope that all former prime ministers can do that."
Dutton has also had a bit of a week over the saga related to his decision to grant tourist visas to two au pairs in 2015. In an escalating war of words between Dutton and his former Australian Border Force commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg, the home affairs minister this week used parliamentary privilege to say Quaedvlieg was "discredited and disgraced" and had "groomed" a woman 30 years his junior.
Quaedvlieg has strongly denied the allegation and written to speaker Tony Smith to have it referred to the parliamentary privileges committee.