Rare in politics. Politicians Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott have admitted they were insensitive and wrong to make a fuss about the funeral arrangements for the Christmas island boat tragedy victims.

Morrison: "I have to show a little more compassion than I showed yesterday.

"There is a time and place... if you step over the mark you have got to say so, and I'm prepared to do so."

Abbott: "Scott showed a lot of guts in accepting that he may have gone a little too far.

"We will never depart from being humane... we did go a little too far."

Yes they did and they were called on it by the shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey. The issue, if not dealt with, had the potential to drive yet another wedge through the party.

Now maybe the Government can reciprocate by admitting they too have been insensitive and more, far more, by immediately after the funeral sending a deeply traumatised 10-year-old orphan on a 5,000 kilometre journey back to Christmas Island.

Probably too much though to expect Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to, in effect, admit that he and the Government have been needlessly bureaucratic, pig headed and heartless. But then again, if Scott Morrison...?

No it won't happen. Not when the Minister can advance arguments like this with Jon Faine on ABC 774:

Faine: "To the politics second, and the compassion first. Ten-year-old Seena is orphaned. His family is offering to look after him in Sydney. Are there compassionate grounds or other grounds upon which you can agree to their requests?"

Bowen: "What we do is we prioritise people who have been through torture and trauma... but there's a process, you'd understand Jon, to go through. I can't just hand them over to people."

Faine: "It's a no-brainer, that this boy's better off with his family than back in the care of the department."

Bowen: "He'll definitely be released into the community, there's no question about that."

Faine: "But right now, today, tomorrow."

Bowen: "Well Jon the initial psychological advice to me was that it's best to keep these people together as a group on Christmas Island... you don't just open the gates and say, 'Off you go'."

Faine: "Minister, you can, you've got the power."

Bowen: "And I do..."

Faine: "His cousin has spoken to us this morning and they wanted to take him from the funeral, if possible."

Bowen: "Jon, it's a very sensitive and difficult case, as they all are."

Faine: "No it's not, it's a really easy one..."

Bowen: "No Jon..."

Faine: "It's the easiest of cases you'll ever get."

Bowen: "Jon, I read cases like this every day, people who have been through trauma and torture..."

Faine: "A 10-year-old boy?"

Bowen: "Yes. Absolutely. Every child in our detention system has been through trauma and I've..."

Faine: "His parents have both died."

Bowen: "And I'm moving them into the community, but there's a process in place to make sure they get the appropriate care as they do so."

Faine: "It doesn't pass the commonsense test, quite frankly Minister."

Bowen: "I understand your view, that you would like me to do it today..."

Faine: "And you can, you have the power."

Bowen: "And as I say, I have released children into the community very regularly in the time I've been Minister, and I've been doing it without fuss and without fanfare. We do it because it is appropriate, and that is what will happen with this case as well."

But not now. Not even when it was blindingly obviously appropriate to do so. Instead the child, inconsolable at his father's graveside, was immediately ushered to a bus and sent back to Christmas Island, no doubt to return to the mainland when the bureaucrats, and the Minister, are good and ready. Processes will have been followed. Rule one - tick, rule two - tick, rule three - tick. No exceptions, no flexibility, another day's work completed.

Faine concluded: "Minister I could read you out any one of 20 text messages along the lines of this one: 'Stupid bureaucratic ministerial response' and so on they go, but my time is up and I have to move on."

Bowen: "Well, Jon..."

Faine: "I gave it my best shot and I got nowhere."

Bowen: "Being Immigration Minister does not mean you can please people, but it means you make judgment calls on issues every day and that's what we're doing."

Faine: "And I personally think you got the wrong one here, but there you go. I've had a go and I've probably broken all the ABC rules in doing so."

Probably. Pity the Government wouldn't occasionally bend a couple of their own. And by the way, a lot of talk back on commercial radio went the same way. Some of them were critical of both the Opposition and Chris Bowen.

And finally, Barnaby Joyce.

Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott have had a rethink, but has the Senator? He intends to keep the issue running in Senate Estimates by demanding to know how much it cost to fly family members to the funerals.

He told AM: "Well it is always appropriate to ask whether the spending of money is appropriate... and I suppose in Senate Estimates we'll find out whether it was a reasonable cost or not."

Just before Christmas, Barnaby Joyce wrote off his taxpayer-funded $80,000 four wheel drive when he drove it into floodwaters.

The vehicle was insured and it will be replaced. But did he act responsibly? Did he take due care with a taxpayer-funded benefit?

Maybe a question for Senate Estimates when they get through calculating the cost of the funeral arrangements.

And just to save them the trouble. The cost, in round figures, was $300,000. That's two cents per taxpayer. You be the judge as to whether you got your two cents worth.

Barrie Cassidy hosts Insiders and Offsiders on ABC1.