Halfway through the interview with Senator Anne Ruston, who by May could be in charge of the $140 billion health portfolio, suffering all the deep headaches that the job generates, a thought occurs.

Is her boss Peter Dutton, now a 50-50 bet to become the next prime minister, harbouring resentment towards AusDoc?

In the aftermath of the Coalition’s GP co-pay implosion, a few days after Mr Dutton was moved on from the health minister job, AusDoc ran a poll titled ‘Who is the worst health minister in the history of Medicare?’

The winner, as voted by 1100 doctors, was Mr Dutton.