To cut a long story short, a mischievous young lad by the name of Peter, who when it was his turn to watch over village’s flock of sheep, yelled out that a hungry wolf was on its way.  He did it time and time again. Each time, there was no wolf. Peter was bored and simply did it for his own amusement.

But as fate would have it, when the wolf finally did turn up to feast on said sheep, no one believed Peter thanks to his previous irresponsible behaviour.

That same scenario seems to fit the current MPs entitlement saga rather perfectly,  don’t you think? 

The public has now become so resentful and exasperated by what they’re reading, that when a politician does have a legitimate reason for making a claim, people simply do not want to know about it. They wouldn’t believe them anyway, just like Peter and his wolf cries.

Point in case … on Thursday, embattled MP Sussan Ley came out swinging. 

Ms Ley, who has been in the spotlight for a raft of dubious ministerial expenses charged back to the taxpayer, claimed that she had no choice but to take expensive charter flights in 2014 and 2015, saying last-minute diary conflicts made commercial flights impossible.

Ms Ley’s office says the former federal health minister had legitimate reasons for chartering a flight between Canberra and Melbourne in 2014 and Canberra and Adelaide in 2015.

That may be the case, but in terms of political damage in the eyes of the public, that horse has well and truly bolted.

And it could not have come at a less opportune time for the government, with the first reduction in payments hitting the bank accounts of the country’s pensioners.

Federal Trade Minister Steve Ciobo, pictured, also tried the offensive approach – but for the most part, people simply found it offensive. Mr Ciobo, along with Tasmanian Senator David Bushby and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann claimed publicly funded entitlements to attend the 2013 AFL grand final in Melbourne.

Mr Ciobo, it was reported, charged back $1100 for the trip but then this week claimed he was “invited” to attend because he was the Trade Minister, so to charge it back was fine.  I know about a third of a million pensioners who would disagree Mr Ciobo.