John Howard spent the weekend on a low-profile visit to Sydney, making just one public appearance in Parramatta on Saturday.
Howard used the appearance to step up the attack on unions, running into some trouble when it emerged that the Liberal candidate for Parramatta, Colin Robinson, is a proud union member.
Later that day, the PM was forced to deal with revelations that cabinet had shut down Environment Minster Malcolm Tunbull’s argument that the Government should ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
He responded: "What we need is a new international agreement, with all of the major emitters including China."