Scroll forward a couple of years and the dynamics are uncannily similar. Bereft of goodwill, a directionless Abbott government has fallen prey to the siege it has invited. Ministers grumble of a raw deal from Fairfax Media (this publisher) and the ABC. Actually, that understates it dramatically. No less than a "jihad" is being waged according to Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton. Abbott refused to be drawn, calling it Canberra insider stuff, but it was his own senior ministers talking.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's attack on Fairfax Media failed to gain the support even of his own ministerial colleagues.

Touching all this off, Dutton effectively blamed Fairfax for reporting a story that any but the most sycophantic reporter would have run. It cited two cabinet ministers (one in corroboration of the other) who had revealed internal dissatisfaction with Treasurer Joe Hockey's performance, discussion of his possible replacement, and an early election option in March, subject to the results of the forthcoming Canning byelection. The story was uncomfortable but factually correct in every detail.

Seven's Mark Riley had reported similar talk last Friday and News Corp's Samantha Maiden had weighed in far more caustically in the News Corp Sundays. She had described certain ministers in very unflattering terms and reported on widespread discussion about installing Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison in the roles of Abbott and Hockey respectively.

However, Maiden's scornful critique was mild compared to recent scarifying editorials and opinion pieces in that stable's flagship, The Australian. The broadsheet has frequently lamented the government's woeful performance, lashing Hockey and bemoaning a mystifying absence of political wit within the Abbott brains-trust.