But there's a real difference between slowing the pace of government and trying to shut down debate by refusing to respond to legitimate questions. With the new government largely making good on Abbott's vow to keep politics off the front page, and in the absence of other political news, the expenses saga has dominated federal politics for three weeks now, becoming a wildfire that has swallowed all the oxygen around it and gathered a pace all of its own. And the government must shoulder some of the blame for the media storm that has erupted; not only has its handling of the saga been found wanting, it has given the chattering classes very little else to talk about. Last month so-called ''father of the house'', Philip Ruddock, offered some advice to the new government that turned out to be prescient. Speaking to Fairfax to mark his 40th anniversary in Parliament, Ruddock, the chief whip, was asked to compare the governments of Abbott and his political mentor, John Howard. Ruddock said: ''In the initial period, I would hope - and I would expect - that Tony and those around him would be very much aware of some of the difficult issues that John Howard had to manage in his first year and second year of office in relation to matters of conflict of interest.''

In Howard's first two years, seven cabinet ministers were forced to resign after they breached new rules requiring ministers to divest shares in portfolios they oversaw and to be truthful in Parliament. Unlike Howard, who dealt decisively with the issue, Abbott's approach to the rolling revelations of misused taxpayer funds has been like that of a policeman trying to hurry along motorists and pedestrians who are dawdling at the site of a car crash trying to get a closer look. ''I'm not proposing to change the system,'' he said in one of his few public comments on the matter two weeks ago. ''We don't want to fixate on this.'' What do you mean ''we'', Mr Abbott? It must be said that some of the examples of dodgy expense claims are far from recent and arguably should have been uncovered at the time politicians filed their claims. But they are damning, and any suggestion that politicians have been misusing the taxpayer-funded and generous entitlements they receive as part of their remuneration packages should be investigated. Don Randall, the West Australian MP, this week spent days refusing to answer entirely legitimate questions about what he was doing in Cairns on ''electorate business'' in November last year, having spent more than $5259 in taxpayer funds on flights for himself and a family member. Just a week after taking the trip, he and his wife took possession of a new house in Cairns.

On Thursday night he announced he would repay the money, but maintained that he was satisfied his claims ''meet the guidelines''. Likewise, Abbott has spent the past three weeks maintaining that while there are problems around the edges, there are no systemic problems that would warrant the expenses system being reformed. But unlike Howard's decisive action in the early weeks of his first term, Abbott's approach has been to say as little as possible about the matter and have his ministers quietly repay the money in the apparent belief it will make the whole thing go away. It's an approach that seems extremely out of touch with the reactions of mainstream Australia to revelations that MPs - including Abbott - have used their entitlements to pay their way to weddings, for sporting events, large libraries, book tours, and to buy multiple copies of Guinness World Records. And it's worse when those, such as Randall, with serious questions to answer, simply refuse to engage.

The compact between parliamentarians and the public is built on trust, and the public has every right to expect their elected representatives to conduct themselves with honesty and be willing to be held accountable. Like many other Australians, I've spent much of the past week pondering why some of our federal parliamentarians appear to be so damn out of touch with the rest of Australia. Two weeks ago Howard told The Australian that political parties ''have become captured by people with zealous attitudes to certain issues and these issues are not the preoccupations of mainstream voters who vote for the party''. Loading How right he was.

Bianca Hall is The Sunday Age's political correspondent.