Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has, during his relatively short political career, become no stranger to political embarrassment and a newspaper report yesterday will do nothing to diminish his blushes.
This is especially true as the report concerns Indonesia, the country's closest neighbour and a source of great concern in Australia at the moment as it prepares for the political fallout from Jakarta's economic traumas.
Urbane and well groomed, Mr Downer appeared a cut above many Australian politicians who have graced the corridors of power but he has also had a gift of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
His inappropriate comments cost him dearly a couple of years ago when he was dumped unceremoniously as leader of the Liberal Party after only six months in power.
Further embarrassment came not long after when, after being demoted to Foreign Minister, he found himself at the centre of a scandal about a highly critical report on Australia's Pacific neighbours.
He can scarcely be blamed for this, as an official in the government left the report, which included scathing remarks about Pacific leaders' personal habits and competence, sitting on a chair during a forum about greater co-operation in the Pacific region.