So far, programs haven’t even been released for next week, and the office of Nationals’ deputy leader Bridget McKenzie, who’s chairing the committee told us on Sunday nobody is 100 per cent guaranteed.

But fear not – embattled Qantas chair Richard Goyder, who strangely didn’t show up at a hearing in his hometown of Perth last Friday, is set to appear in Canberra on Wednesday with chief executive Vanessa Hudson.

As for Qatar, the airline’s people didn’t get back to us on Sunday, so it’s anybody’s guess whether the committee will hear from them, although we can confirm that they haven’t said no.

Meantime, Labor – which really didn’t want the senate probe to go ahead – wasn’t especially impressed by the inquiry’s visit to Perth on Friday with Qantas-bashing Senator Tony Sheldon pointing out that only five of the 16 witnesses heard on the day showed up in person, the rest appearing by video link, mostly from the east coast.

Sheldon insisted the whole exercise was a waste of “tens of thousands of dollars” in taxpayers’ money, sending senators, staffers, public servants, the whole travelling circus over to the west for such an underwhelming turnout.

But McKenzie’s people dismissed Sheldon’s criticism on Sunday as Labor “running interference” in the inquiry, pointing to nuggets of valuable evidence unearthed – such as Perth Airport only finding out last week that it was on the list of Qatar’s desired destinations for the new flight slots – made it well worth the journey.

BIG DICKER ENERGY

David Dicker cuts an unusual figure among Australia’s rich-listers. Sporting a flowing white mane more reminiscent of an Old Testament prophet than a software entrepreneur, Dicker’s eponymous data company has an understated vibe that means it doesn’t attract the same breathless excitement of other home-grown tech outfits.

CBD, however, has been more excited by Dicker’s attempts to create a Formula One outfit, and make Jamie Chadwick the competition’s first female driver in over 30 years. That dream sadly came to an end over the weekend, after the motorsport’s governing body FIA, after news emerged on Saturday it had rejected every bid for a new bid, barring one associated with American outfit Andretti Global.

Among those snubbed was Dicker’s Rodin Carlin. Dicker, a long-time petrol head, said his guess was the FIA wouldn’t put his team in the F1, hinting that the push for a female rider might not go down so well with the “current guys” running the sport.

No reason has been given for the snub, and the politics of Formula One are messy to say the least, but looks like Dicker was right to be a little pessimistic.

POLLIE FIT

Nobody goes to Parliament House to lose weight. The long hours, bad food, and regular bouts of boozing aren’t conducive to a healthy, wholesome lifestyle.

Hoping to buck that trend, 20 MPs and senators plus their staff have signed up to a “Fit for Office” challenge, which involves volunteering to wear heart rate monitors for the next four weeks, with their exercise efforts show in real-time on a group leaderboard, like a particularly ghoulish version of Strava.

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There’s even a prize for fittest MP, but given former Wallabies captain David Pocock signed up, as has assistant treasurer and prolific marathon runner Andrew Leigh, we reckon most of the well-meaning pollies won’t stand much chance.

Still, as political fitness initiatives go, it’s a good deal less memorable than the infamous Pollie Pedal, a long-running charity bike ride created by former prime minister Tony Abbott. In 2014, participating MPs claimed thousands in taxpayer-funded travel allowance. And in 2018, Abbott and his lackey Kevin Andrews used the pollie pedal to travel to a coal-fired power station and lay into then-PM Malcolm Turnbull.

Fortunately, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, who is often spotted in running gear doing laps of the corridors of power, has been keeping pollie pedal alive in Abbott and Andrews’ absence.