The Senate estimates process is like a carnival for political rounds reporters. Ministers and public servants in their topic areas get grilled, sometimes in deeply uncomfortable ways, for hours about what’s been happening in their portfolios.

This week there were debates about what constitutes “taxpayers’ money”, which ministers had their legal fees covered, and whether the Prime Minister’s most trusted public servant was about to jump ship.

Today on Please Explain, federal politics bureau chief Angus Livingston joins Tory Maguire to look at some of the more interesting reveals from Senate estimates that haven't make the mastheads.