Justice Minister Michael Keenan fields questions at a press conference in Melbourne. Credit:Penny Stephens In fact, it turns out that the operation - the seizure of assault weapons, handguns and gun parts - was wrapped up on Wednesday and the minister's involvement was a press conference in Melbourne on Friday morning. He'd had enough time to fly to Melbourne after sneaking out of Parliament, and, hearing with alarm when he landed that he'd left the government in peril, he'd rushed on to a return flight and bolted back to Parliament House...only to arrive too late to save the fat from the fire. The House had adjourned. So why did he need to hotfoot it out of Parliament in the first place on Thursday afternoon, leaving his colleagues to face the rare humiliation of losing a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives at the end of the first week in which PM Turnbull had boasted of running a majority government? Keenan refused to answer the question.

Michael Keenan with some examples of the type of weapons that were seized. Credit:Penny Stephens Indeed, he wasn't in the mood to explain anything at all as he finally fronted that pressing press conference at Victoria Police headquarters in Melbourne on Friday, replicas of seized assault rifles and handguns beside him. He wanted the relative safety of talking about the joint Victoria Police-AFP-US Border Force operation that had disrupted a gun-smuggling ring. He was not noticeably thrilled when Fairfax Media insisted on inquiring about his longevity as a frontbencher. "Have you offered your resignation to the prime minister?" we asked, musing aloud whether this might be the last gun-busting operation he might oversee as a minister.

Have you offered your resignation to the prime minister? "Nice to see you, Tony. Thanks for coming. No is the answer," replied the minister. "Why not?" "Well, I've already given an extensive press conference this morning as well as done radio. "I don't propose to have a second press conference about the same topic."

The minister was being flexible with the truth. He'd certainly done radio, but an extensive press conference? Not quite. When he'd emerged from the ABC radio studios in Canberra's Parliament House shortly after dawn, he'd been ambushed by three journalists in the press gallery corridor and had made a quick get-away after stammering out a mea culpa or two ("I accept full responsibility") and blaming the Labor Party for "pulling a stunt". Well, Fairfax reminded him at this latest, actual press conference, the prime minister had said "you've been excoriated", and "you've humiliated the government..." "The prime minister made his views known to me and I obviously accept those views," said Keenan. "He was disappointed."

Around this point, it was possible to discern over the hapless minister's shoulder the Victorian Minister for Police, Lisa Neville, struggling to keep a satisfied smile off her lips. Ms Neville, a minister in Premier Daniel Andrews' administration, knows what it feels like to be a member of a government in swamp water up to its waist. And any minister knows what it means when the leader makes it known "he was disappointed". Michael Keenan edged out of the room, avoiding looking at all that heavy weaponry on display, lest, perhaps, someone hadn't removed all the firing pins.