Last month, Julia Gillard excoriated The Australian, associating us with "the misogynists and the nut jobs on the internet" because we dared to reveal how, as a partner in a law firm, she secretly helped to establish a union slush fund for her boyfriend -- leading to an internal investigation before she left the firm. The serious issues of legal conduct, character and public interest in this were obvious -- especially for a Prime Minister confronting the current scourge of union corruption. Yet Ms Gillard warned off most media by pleading these issues were personal and old. "This is just nonsense and a distraction from the important work I've got to do as Prime Minister and the important issues for this nation's future," she protested. "In these circumstances, why are we, 17 years later, when these matters have been dealt with on the public record for the best part of a decade and a half, still talking about this?" Most of the Canberra Press Gallery, the Fairfax Press and the ABC accepted this invitation to incuriosity.

Unlike the Gillard revelations, the Abbott claims are not supported by documentation and relate to personal rather than professional conduct. Character assessments are relevant for a potential prime minister but this story bears the hallmarks of a personal smear. Ms Ramjan said there was no witness; subsequently, other political allies emerged as hearsay witnesses. A leading Labor figure of that scene supports Mr Abbott's denial. Had such an incident occurred, and mattered, it seems likely it would have resulted in a public reaction or become folklore -- not hibernated until now.

After unsuccessfully adopting a strategy of smear against Campbell Newman in the Queensland election, Labor needs to be careful. So far, Ms Gillard's personal past has been quarantined from public scrutiny. In the slush fund affair, her relationship with a married man was central. And another such relationship has crossed into her own frontbench ranks, blurring the professional and personal. Based on Labor's public comments and private urgings this week, it could hardly complain if the opposition chose to explore these issues.