It might have been easier to intervene a year ago, before the opposition was so fragmented.
Half an hour before parliamentary question time, when the opposition was set to launch a full-scale attack over last week's rethink, Abbott fronted the media to announce the government would reinstate the full $1.2bn earmarked for Queensland, Western Australian and the Northern Territory over the next four years.
Yanukovich fled Ukraine before a peace deal with the opposition was implemented, and a new national unity government was installed.
Had the breach in the opposition been mended before the March election, it might have managed a decisive victory.
Another from the IfG shows that before the 2010 election, the Tory opposition was allowed restricted access to the civil service in the months before the contest.
Scandinavians have also pointed out to the fossil-fuel-addicted public that wind power has been with us before, even in New York, where opposition is beginning to build to a wind farm on Long Island, off Jones Beach State Park.
This move comes just two days before the opposition party is set to hold a protest.
Vigilance is the answer, so make sure your opposition is heard before it's too late.
Even before those battles are joined, opposition is rising.
