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We have been here before and neither the journey nor the destination was enjoyable for anyone.
Summer is supposed to give us all a break from politics.
It's a time for family and friends, food, the beach, sport, reading and generally not having to keep abreast of events for fear one might get to Australia Day, tune into the news and realise the prime minister is looking shaky.
Not this year.
Just before Christmas there was a ministerial reshuffle, then the mishandling and mothballing of the cut to the GP rebate for shorter doctor visits. And now the month has been capped off by Tony Abbott's decision to award Prince Philip a knighthood.
The sequence of events added to the pre-Christmas narrative of the poor performance of the government and particularly the Prime Minister.
2015 is starting to look a lot like 2013, which looked a lot like 2012, which looked a lot like 2011, which looked a lot like 2010.
The meta story, as a former Labor Party operative used to say, is that the government is stuffed.
The Labor Party's fateful decision to get rid of a sitting prime minister introduced a toxic new dimension to politics.
The dumping of Kevin Rudd meant that course of action was no longer off limits, which meant it could be discussed by MPs which meant it could be reported by the media.
The public was unhappy and it's hard to say whether the ire was directed more at the Labor Party for behaving that way or at the media for seeming to encourage Labor's behaviour by reporting on it.
I do not exempt myself from this. I work in the press gallery and I have written my share of leadership stories.
I sympathise with the idea that comments made by unnamed MPs in stories about "leadership rumblings" are unpalatable to many people, that it feels as if ghosts are behind the whispering and that, without names, no one is ever held to account.
I understand that it would be nice to think reporters were just making it up because then it would be possible to believe MPs were not so venal and self-obsessed as to spend their time trying to knife each other in the back.
Some of the stories were ill-judged or perhaps had the wrong emphasis but the bitter fight between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard was, unfortunately, not made up.
What makes the Coalition's story different from the Rudd/Gillard years is that Abbott is not being actively undermined by a contender.
It is not as if there is another camp that is feeding damaging stories to the press with the purpose of bringing about a change in leader.
Any possible contenders are biding their time.
Instead, the Coalition's sorry state is largely because of the decisions and actions of the Prime Minister.
This week the stories are changing from what might generally be categorised as "anecdotes from MPs who are worried about the Coalition's performance but still support Mr Abbott" to "MPs are prepared to talk about the possibility of changing leader".
I believe people feel they are the electors of the prime minister. People know they do not vote for the actual person (unless, of course, they live in his or her electorate) but they feel that they do because the prime minister is the figurehead of his or her party.
People want to keep or get rid of a prime minister themselves. They want to have their say, not have the decision taken out of their hands by the party.
But the lightning speed of modern politics and the desire to stay in office means many MPs discount that as a legitimate public concern.
So where does this all go? Who knows?
Stories such are the ones that are appearing today are cries of frustration from MPs desperate for a change in direction. They are a very public plea for help, made in the hope senior figures will listen and steer the ship away from the iceberg.
Barring unforeseen circumstance, an election is due in the second half of 2016. That's close enough for MPs to be plotting their path towards re-election.
Changing direction is not impossible. Far from it.
Abbott's speech to the National Press Club on Monday is thought to be the launch of his new families' policy.
There is no better opportunity to get people – both in the media and outside - talking about policy, ideas and values.
I wrote a piece last week about how we need a new way to talk about politics. It struck a chord with many readers.
Being stuck in a quagmire of leadership speculation certainly isn't helping.
