While the polls are still terrible for the Coalition, the developing furore over Sport and Communications Minister Anika Wells’ use of expenses is a reminder of how quickly politics can change gears.

Wells is in a dreadful position.

Widely seen as a rising star, Wells went straight into the outer ministry when Labor returned to office in 2022. She was in cabinet a couple of years later. She now has carriage of the tricky communications portfolio, in which galactic-sized egos must be managed and competing interests carefully balanced.

Anika Wells is facing her toughest political test so far. Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Despite being asked numerous times, it is still not clear how Wells, a staffer and a public servant managed to spend about $100,000 on flights to New York to attend meetings at the United Nations, including a special event at which Australia spruiked its world-leading social media ban for under 16s. Those flights are what started this brouhaha, and those questions remain unanswered.

Failing to explain the reason these flights cost so much money was her first mistake.

But it is the sports portfolio and the rules that govern family reunion flights........

© The Sydney Morning Herald