The political equivalent is presenting itself this week: an opposition pace attack, dominant in both polls and Parliament, limbering up to pound a government dropping wickets and very much on the back foot.

At issue is the government's exquisite vulnerability, the question to be determined by the High Court in mid-October as to whether the Coalition has a majority in its own right at all, and whether no less a figure than the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, was even validly elected in 2016.

While some have floated a Labor "walkout" from Parliament if Joyce is allowed to assume the acting prime minister post at any time before the High Court rules on his eligibility, others know that would backfire.

Tony Burke, Labor's tactical boss on the floor of the house, has recalled the embarrassment for Nationals MPs who walked en masse in February 2012 when their leader, Warren Truss, was suspended for interjecting.

Furious Nats, whose hatred of then speaker Peter Slipper knew no earthly limits, tried to humiliate him by storming out, only to slink back in soon after, having achieved little more than looking dopey.

Labor will instead mount a furious attack on the inconsistency of Joyce remaining in his post while another Nationals cabinet minister, Matt Canavan, was stood down pending the court's adjudication on dual citizenship.

It's but one of the many headaches for Malcolm Turnbull, who leaves on Friday, after Parliament, to attend the annual Pacific Islands Forum in Samoa.

Make no mistake, the Joyce thing is an issue.

Later this month, the PM would customarily attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York but has brushed the summit this year despite the crucial security issues such as North Korea, Afghanistan, and the deadly Islamist insurgency in the Philippines.

Maybe he could send in a night watchman instead - Joyce perhaps?