You take the bullet, we'll make a soft landing: Ministers and their advisors

There is no doubt Ms Mullan is a loyal and capable adviser. But she apparently made two errors in judgment by: a) taking the wine in the first place, and b) giving an initially misleading statement to police, which she subsequently corrected.

There is also no doubt that Premier Beattie was right to take responsibility for this episode blowing into the saga it has become, calling into question the integrity of many people who probably don¹t deserve it.

In reinstating Ms Mullan, Mr Beattie has again shown his political skill in negating a festering wound for his government today there is barely a mention in the State¹s main local newspaper.

But don't expect Ms Mullan to be the last staffer to take a bullet for their minister in Australia. It's just that next time there won't be any miscommunication of the "soft landing" message that might lead to messy and damaging public confessions.