Organisational standards in the office of Attorney-General George Brandis dipped to Kevin Rudd-like levels of dysfunction last month when the nation's top military brass were left in a windowless room for well over an hour without explanation.
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Fairfax Media can reveal the Chief of the Defence Force, Mark Binskin, and the secretary of the Department of Defence, Dennis Richardson, along with heads of army and navy and other senior officials were left staring at the walls in a parliamentary committee room for 80 minutes, leading to frayed tempers and "some fruity language".
They had arrived at the unsociable hour of 7:00am for a scheduled briefing of Senator Brandis on key defence expenditure issues.
It is understood several phone calls aimed at finding the absent minister failed to establish his whereabouts.
According to multiple sources, members of the group totalling around 20 people were "pretty angry" and embarrassed after coming to Parliament House on February 25, only to sit around doing nothing.
Senator Brandis was to represent the Defence Minister Kevin Andrews at a Senate budget estimates committee hearing set to start at 9:00am that same day.
The situation has been described as a stuff-up at either the ministerial staff or Department of Defence level rather than any indifference by Senator Brandis, who was apparently unaware of the appointment even though his office had locked it in.
When he did arrive at about 8:20am, Senator Brandis is said to have been "most contrite" and genuinely shocked to find a room full of top military types. He explained he had had no knowledge of the timing.
A government source told Fairfax Media that Department of Defence officials had been pushing for the meeting for weeks ahead of the estimates hearings in order to brief Senator Brandis on the complex issues in the portfolio likely to be raised by opposition and crossbench senators.
However his office had been unable or unwilling to find a suitable space in his diary, eventually opting for the extraordinary time of 7:00am on the day of the hearing itself.
The incident revived memories of similar snubs during the prime ministership of Kevin Rudd, who was notorious among senior public servants and defence personnel for calling meetings and then not turning up or keeping officers waiting in his ante-room.
On one occasion in 2008, Mr Rudd reportedly kept the then Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Houston and the then secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Michael L'Estrange, waiting outside his office for more than two hours after requiring their presence. At the time, nobody thought to send them back to their own offices to be called on later.
On another occasion, Mr Richardson, after waiting for an extended period, had reportedly walked out of the office in a huff declaring he had real work to do and could not afford to sit around indefinitely.
A spokesman for Senator Brandis said the incident was a genuine mix-up and that he had not known of the meeting at all.
It is understood the Attorney-General was at Parliament until after 11.00 pmthe previous day answering questions on his own portfolio and was not told he had a 7:00am briefing on defence matters.
A spokesman for Senator Brandis said: "The Attorney-General understood that the meeting was at 8:00am, not 7:00am. Obviously an error was made, for which the Attorney-General was very apologetic."
His office said there was nothing unusual in the same day pre-estimates briefing but they are normally scheduled for 8:00am.
