There have been plenty of bizarre "firsts" this year, like finding out the deputy prime minister was not a member of Parliament.

Or watching a Prime Minister slam dual citizenship allegations as a disgraceful witch-hunt, right up until he introduced a Parliament-wide citizenship register.

But the spectacle of a government being dragged kicking and screaming to conduct a royal commission it had utterly, repeatedly, indignantly opposed, until two days ago, was almost too much to take in.

Driven by the prospect of a humiliating loss on the floor of the Parliament, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison did not mask their contempt in policy terms for a "regrettable" inquiry process to which they had just allocated $75 million and a heap of government attention and resources.