Immigration Minister Peter Dutton might have described his banter about rising sea levels with Prime Minister Tony Abbott as a "private conversation", but as politicians should know, it's never private if there's a recording device (like a three-metre-long boom pole, for instance) nearby.

While being made to wait for a meeting about Syrian refugees, Dutton comments that they're on "Cape York time". Abbott replies that the same thing had happened "up in Port Moresby", where he'd just held talks about climate change with leaders from the Pacific Islands.

"Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door," says Dutton, with the quip getting a laugh from the Prime Minister.

The fly-on-the-wall recording doesn't just give us an insight into how our leaders interact when they don't think we're listening: it also captures the moment of realisation when they realise they've been overheard.

"There's a boom up there," says Social Services Minister Scott Morrison. Abbott responds, through a steady smile, "Yeah, yeah."

It's not the first time a politician might have wished they'd been alerted sooner.

'Bigoted woman'

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When British prime minister Gordon Brown called a female voter he'd just met a "bigoted woman" in 2010, he knew he'd been wearing a lapel mic; he just didn't realise it was still there. It's probably wise to double-check when you're less than a fortnight from an election.

'We begin bombing in five minutes'

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While doing a sound check for a radio address in 1984, Cold War-era president Ronald Reagan joked into the microphone that Russia was to be outlawed and that bombing of that enemy would soon commence. Though it wasn't broadcast live, it was later leaked.

'Major league asshole from the New York Times'

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When former US president George W Bush spotted political journalist Adam Clymer while waving to a crowd at a rally with his 2000 election running mate Dick Cheney, he didn't hesitate to offer his opinion, calling Clymer a "major league asshole from the New York Times". Cheney was on a unity ticket, replying, "Yeah, big time."

'This f*****g language!'

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"Tell these dickheads in the embassy to just give me simple sentences," says former prime minister Kevin Rudd in frustration as he tries to record a Chinese-language video. It was thought these outtakes had been destroyed at the time, but they were leaked in 2012 in an apparent inside attack.

'That's bulls**t'

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It looked like former Labor frontbencher Nicola Roxon and Tony Abbott were simply exchanging cordial small talk after their National Press Club debate in 2007. But the audio tells a different story, with Ms Roxon telling the then-health minister that he could have avoided being late to the debate. Abbott responds, "That's bullshit. You're being deliberately unpleasant."