The two Labor protagonists scored skilfully executed pyrrhic victories over each other, and in the process destroyed public support for their government.

They had no right to do this - the way they stalked each other and rendered their governments shambolic and useless.

There are plenty of other examples, where inflated egos and self indulgence have robbed the party faithful and taxpayers of the leadership they voted for and the type of leadership they were entitled to.

The road of history is littered with these distractions - Andrew Peacock and John Howard, Malcolm Fraser and Andrew Peacock, Paul Keating and Bob Hawke, John Howard and Peter Costello and closer to home Harry Holgate and Doug Lowe and then Robin Gray and Ray Groom.

This is not to say ambition and power are dirty words necessarily. But it is a commentary on a government's ability to lead and fulfil its pledges to voters.

The latest example is Tony Abbott and Malcom Turnbull. Or, is it Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop? In the case of the Rudd-Gillard melodrama the tools of combat included opinion polls and carefully planted leaks. The destabilising game is evident now in the Abbott government, with carefully planted leaks of the most secret Cabinet meetings involving national security.

No matter what mistakes Tony Abbott has made, the real killer is the leaks. They compromise the workings of cabinet government and spell disunity.

The media become willing agents of the mischief, and oscillates between the Machiavellian plots, while sitting back to watch like enthralled spectators.

It degenerates running the country into no more than the conduct of a sport, where power is everything and taxpayers are mere pawns in the exercise.

The nation deserves better, than this debilitating absence of substance and spine.