The kind of trouble that could see it disappear from the political landscape, which would be a bad thing.
When it comes to any discussion, and politics should be a discussion (rather than a shouting match), there are those that are right and those who are wrong. Without the Libs others will need to step up to be wrong when it comes to any given debate.
We have a Federal Coalition which is spinning out of control only part way through its first term in government. It is tying itself in knots over just trying to keep the tangled web of promises Tony Abbott made before the election.
The deficit tax is sparking a backbench revolt and leading to calls that it is electoral suicide. This pushed the Mad Monk to coin some of the most ridiculous and deceptive rhetoric since the days of 'core and non-core promises'. Now, apparently, a levy is not a tax because it is temporary. Sir Pository Abbott lit up the online discussion over that one.
Sadly the policy was opposed by his Treasurer and by many in his own party, it was opposed by his Coalition partner, it was opposed by the business community, it was opposed by Abbott's own commission of audit, it was opposed by Labor, the Greens, PUP, KAP and many more outside parliament.
I doubt Abbott gets women, but I do know he got shafted for trying to pass a thought bubble off as policy.
And then there is the revolt within the party over the changes to the Racial Discrimination act.
And... with today's release of the commission of audit being painted as pure political theatre, as well as some economists calling the budget emergency a 'beat up' designed to support pre-conceived policy positions and the subsequent breaking of further promises - the Federal Coalition's entire political strategy seems to have unraveled
In the NT, three former country Liberals have defected to the PUP party. This inspired Campbell Newman to weigh into the discussion with some apparently libelous claims of his own. Clive Palmer plans to see him in court, and no doubt the taxpayers of Queensland will be footing Newman's legal bill.
In Queensland - the Newman government has moved further to exert inappropriate control over the CMC, raising the ire of Tony Fitzgerald. It is understandable that Campbell is spooked by what is happening at ICAC. First, he was mentioned by the inquiry as someone who was soliciting donations for meetings with lobbyists while Lord Mayor of Brisbane. And now he is sitting back watching how ICAC is uncovering an illegal money trail, through shell companies, straight into Liberal party coffers.
And in WA - we have Troy Buswell, the man with more political lives than Tony Abbott, causing a great deal of damage to both a government vehicle and a number of private vehicles. According to police recordings, eyewitnesses claim Buswell was heavily intoxicated while driving in a very dangerous manner. It will be interesting to see if the world's best known chair sniffer and bra-strap snapper is subject to further charges, and if he is given yet another political life by the floundering Barnett government.
According to the IA website - the tentacles of the money trail from this illegal activity spread well outside NSW. $693,000 was channeled into the Liberal party and of that money, $30,000 went to the SA Liberal party, and $388,000 went to the Federal Liberal party. That amount doesn't include the $10,000 that went to Joe Hockey's FEC account and was later refunded.
And even Abbott's Royal Commission into Unions might turn around to bite him. Abbott has been a strong supporter of Kathy Jackson, the one time HSU national secretary. He is on record as calling her 'honest' and was the person who appointed her future husband Michael Lawler to the Fair Work Commission. It is a very tangled web which has been meticulously unpicked by Peter Wicks. You can follow it here.
The Royal commission into Unions has barely begun, and already Kathy Jackson has been implicated in operating a Slush Fund. At the very least, it may leave Abbott with egg on his face.
These are precarious times for the Liberal party at almost every level. Its survival beyond all this scandal may even be in doubt.