(Image: Hardie Grant/Private Media)

Back in the mists of time, before our current glorious age of post-truth politics, to lie to Parliament was an offence considered so grievous that one had to immediately resign. But hokey traditions and ancient practices are no match for a good politician. Especially not when it’s the prime minister who’s the chief offender.

Many readers may recall that, under political pressure early this year over the alleged sexual assault of staffer Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, Scott Morrison asked his reliable Mr Fixit, Phil Gaetjens, to investigate who in his office knew about the alleged incident.

You’d think this would take a couple of days of phone calls by Gaetjens, at most, but the inquiry remains incomplete, having been halted twice — once under the pretence that it might hamper the actual investigation of the alleged crime by the Australian Federal Police, and now because of a criminal prosecution under way in the ACT.

Gaetjens even piously insisted to Senate estimates that he had paused his inquiry “for the benefit of Ms Higgins”.

Putting that aside, you’d think Morrison would want to be kept up to date on the inquiry — and Gaetjens indeed kept him informed. On March 9, according to Gaetjens in evidence to Senate estimates, he told both Morrison’s office and Morrison that he had paused his inquiry: “I emailed the prime minister’s office staff to tell them that I would be not completing the documentation, as per the commissioner’s advice, and at that same time I also told the prime minister of that.”

But nine days later, in question time, Morrison — under pressure over his bungling of the issue and wider workplace and gender issues in Parliament House — had a very different account.

“This work is being done by the secretary of my department … He has not provided me with a further update about when I might expect that report,” he told Parliament.

That’s as open-and-shut a case of lying to Parliament as you’ll ever get.

As a bonus, Morrison added that the opposition could ask Gaetjens questions about the inquiry at estimates several days later. But Gaetjens refused to answer any questions on the basis that he had paused the inquiry.

Most convenient — except for the unfortunate admission that he’d actually told Morrison all about it.