But it was another form of wink that had the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, exercised in question time yesterday. A wink she claimed came from the Opposition's planning spokesman, Brad Hazzard, after he chose to exploit the issue of Richardson's contacts by moving a motion against the Planning Minister.

Keneally has fallen on claims of sexism to counter the Opposition argument she has no control over her portfolio or the lobbyists her bureaucrats meet.

But she will find it harder to evade the question of why she did not know about Richardson's meetings with planning officials on an almost monthly basis since she got the Planning Minister's job last September – a job she won with the sponsorship of Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi.

And the question arises – is it the case she just does not want to know about the meetings between lobbyists and her officials, because it is politically inconvenient?

"Did you just wink at me?" Keneally exclaimed after Hazzard announced he would be moving a motion condemning her handling of the Richardson issue. "'For God's sake," blasphemed the self-confessed theologian. Hazzard denied winking.

Keneally later took it further, comparing the alleged action to the Opposition's finance spokesman Greg Pearce's claim at a committee hearing earlier in the month that the minister was one of "Joe's girls", referring to Tripodi.

"I would've thought ... men in the Liberal Party would have learned something about treating women," she said.

Keneally arrived late for question time, looking immaculate as usual in a red suit. But her side was largely silent when she spoke – usually a dead giveaway that there is less than enthusiastic support for her position.

The first strike came from Barry O'Farrell in a question to Nathan Rees. He asked the Premier if he supported Keneally's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on lobbyists.