“Cocaine and other illegal drugs are widely used across Sydney, from restaurants and bars to sporting venues and even inside Parliament House,” screamed the front page of the Sydney Sunday Telegraph.

“The Sunday Telegraph found traces of drugs, including cocaine, opiates and cannabis, in the men’s toilets outside the parliamentary offices of Opposition leader John Brogden, National Party leader Andrew Stoner and Labor MPs,” the yarn continued.

The story idea was pinched from the Smellie‘s Melbourne sister, the Herald Sun, and its drug swabs in the loos at the Logies yarn – a tabloid cracker. The Sydney story just didn’t have the same impact. Why?

Well, all ministerial offices and leaders’ offices have private facilities, so the pollies mentioned would not have used the bathrooms in question. No wonder the Smellie didn’t use its parliamentary reporter for this story.

And there’s another reason. Hours before the drugs test of the level 10 lavatories, Brogden’s office invited most of the press gallery to his office on the very same floor for drinks. Many of the guests used the bathroom in the hallway – which can also be used by any visitor to level 10 – and…