IT has been a strange week in federal parliament that has seen a former deputy prime minister now earning a backbencher's wage of $211,000 a year using his own circumstances to highlight the difficulties faced by people on Newstart allowance.
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And while Barnaby Joyce was widely panned for the manner of his intervention in this issue, he should be congratulated for at least putting it on the agenda.
The first point to make is that Mr Joyce did not say he was poor. He made it quite clear that he knew his $211,000 pay packet was very generous and put him at the elite end of Australia's income earners.
But, he said, even he had to watch his pennies. He turns off the heater at night and slaughters his own meat to save money.
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And the real point he was making was that if someone on his wage had to make compromises at times to make ends meet, then what hope was there for someone on the dole?
Who could seriously argue with that?
What we saw this week was another example of Mr Joyce's "retail politics". In recent times he has possibly been matched only by Pauline Hanson for the ability to (rightly or wrongly) condense complex policy debates into a few lines for the cameras that speak directly to regular voters.
Mr Joyce was speaking as part of a national discussion on whether the Newstart allowance should be raised and his was the loudest voice out of a strange coalition including former PM John Howard, Labor MPs, business and welfare groups that support the idea.
One who doesn't is current PM Scott Morrison who says he will not support "unfunded empathy" in this area. What he really means, though, is he won't risk his much-hyped budget surplus for the sake of helping those who need it most.
As a backbencher, Mr Joyce has the freedom to speak in opposition to Coalition policy but the manner of this week's intervention in a contentious policy area suggests he does not want to remain a backbencher for much longer.
In a single day Mr Joyce has created more headlines and filled more airwaves than his successor Michael McCormack has achieved in 18 months as federal Nationals leader.
He has proven again he is the Nationals' most effective MP and it's hard to imagine he does not again have his sights set on the top job.
If nothing else, he needs the pay rise.
