His citizenship, he wrote in a social media post at the time, "is a thing".

That "thing" has since seen Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's slim majority cut to a minority government, forced several politicians to resign and brought a dark cloud over the entire parliament.

This week, Mr Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten finally reached a deal to ensure all MPs declare their full hereditary background to parliament.

It is a belated effort to limit the loss of political capital both sides are feeling in a debacle in which Mr Turnbull has everything, politically, to lose.

His decision to back an "audit" or similar mechanism comes too late to protect his, and his party's electoral future, in a long-running debate reminiscent of expenses scandals gone by – no politician wants to expose another's failure for fear his own may be too. The hesitation some politicians have brought to this issue builds little public faith in the honesty of those they elect.

The general public is little versed in Section 44 of the Constitution.

In a nation sinking inexorably into a deeper malaise with the political class, this crisis would seem, at best, to be manufactured of politicians' own ignorance of the nation's cornerstone legal document.

At worst, it could be seen as yet another sign of a political system governed by self-interest and a certain arrogance among some MPs that they are above the law.

The High Court has left none in doubt about the law and what it says, and yet after five months of headlines, resignations and prevarication, MPs will get another three weeks to confirm what they should have before nominating for election.

Mr Turnbull has failed to cement his own grip on either his party room, or provide the leadership required in this latest crisis to grip the parliament.

The citizenship declarations, to be public on December 1, leave one last full sitting week for this year, where this debate will again dominate, along with the same-sex marriage Bill.

It is unfortunate the best this parliament seems capable of when it comes to bipartisan solutions is one that attempts to protect parliament's occasional inhabitants from the baying mobs leaning on the fence outside.