By PETER VAN ONSELEN, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
They do say you should wait 24 hours before making big decisions, especially when they go against your natural instincts.
But Australia's delay in supporting US bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend wasn't a simple case of a slow moving government taking its God-given time.
When Donald Trump ordered targeted strikes on Iran most of America's key allies knew exactly what was required: a prompt show of support.
The UK and EU delivered, endorsing the importance of preventing Iran developing nuclear weapons.
Australia did not.
Instead, Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese reached for a generic line about 'de-escalation and diplomacy', issued by an unnamed government spokesperson, ahead of any official statements out of London or Brussels.
It was a misfire, both diplomatically and politically.
And worst of all it was entirely avoidable, giving at least the impression that even tacit support might not be forthcoming.
The government's explanation? They were waiting until the National Security Committee could meet on Monday, with the PM due to speak afterwards.
In a moment that called for decisive alignment with our closest ally Australia defaulted to bureaucratic procedure.
It is a Monday-to-Friday government in a world that increasingly demands responsiveness around the clock.
Former PM Scott Morrison took to morning radio today to point out that he regularly called national security meetings over the weekend on important issues.
What was so important this past weekend that Albo and Wong couldn't do the same?
There's nothing inherently wrong with caution, of course. In complex security situations there's value in waiting 24 hours before making sweeping public statements. It probably doesn't happen often enough in modern politics.
But the government didn't stay silent. As the Prime Minister noted today - responding to criticism - 'we issued a statement yesterday'. They said something very quickly, and it turned out to be out of step with our allies - they misread the room by trying to get ahead of the story and conform with their ideological opposition.
They wouldn't be alone in their discomfort on this issue. Trump remains a deeply divisive figure across much of the West. But this wasn't about Trump's domestic politics or his often offensive adversarial style. It was about enforcing red lines on nuclear proliferation, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.
What was so important this weekend that the Prime Minister couldn't have said something?
Others understood that; Australia did not, and the misstep could well come with consequences for AUKUS and other entwined relations with the US during the Trump era.
Endorsing American military action, particularly under Trump, cuts against Albo and Wong's political instincts. They hail from the now dominant Left wing of the Labor party.
That same wing persuaded Simon Crean, as opposition leader, to oppose Australian involvement in the Iraq war at the beginning of this century when John Howard pledged his support to George W Bush.
Australia's alliance with the United States isn't conditional on who the president is. If anything, it matters more when the president is unpredictable to affirm our historical ties to the US to help preserve them, years from now, when Trump is gone.
Allies as a general rule shouldn't hedge their bets as Albo and Wong tried to do.
Trump almost certainly would have noticed the slight. He rewards loyalty and punishes perceived indifference. Whether that's fair or wise is ultimately somewhat beside the point. It's how he operates.
The government eventually walked back its initial response, with Wong this morning pledging Australian support in more forthright terms than either the UK or EU had done over the weekend—probably to make up for the misstep. And doing so before the all-important National Security Committee meeting anyway.
Wong told Channel Nine she backed the attack: 'We support action to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon', she said, adding 'and that is what this is.'
It is no hanging offence from Wong.
But it is a clear mistake, and one that reinforces the growing view that this government struggles when events fall outside its curated schedule.
Albanese wants to run a stable, measured administration. Fair enough.
But the world doesn't always wait until Monday morning.