It wasn’t a pleasant combo.

Ben knew how unsettled I was with the biggest telltale sign happening on Wednesday night – I didn’t eat all my lasagne.

The general word on Spring Street was that this was going to be a “skinny” budget and I wondered what that meant for us.

In the previous budget, we secured $150 million. It was a great result, but it wasn’t enough. The Mallee had been languishing in a state of chronic underfunding for years (if not decades) and we needed significantly more if we had any hope of eventually catching up with the rest of the State.

I was doing everything I could to maximise our influence, including taking a significant personal gamble with the Reason Coalition.

I was gifted four years to represent Mildura, and I was determined to exploit every opportunity to change the game. The Reason Coalition was a signal to the Government that I was serious. I was willing to put everything on the line for a fair deal.

The only way I was going to sleep well on Thursday night was if I had a good result on Thursday afternoon. Unlike my hyper-adversarial opponents, I’ll never go to bed with a smile on my face thinking, “Wow, what a bloody excellent smear campaign I ran today!” The only thing that can make me happy is results.

And budget day counts.

I went to bed on Wednesday night trying desperately to fall asleep immediately because my alarm was set for 5am to catch the early fight to Melbourne. But I struggled. I lay awake for hours.

Then Jed’s coughing fits started. He had been mildly unwell with a cold, but tonight he was really sick and upset. He was crying and clinging and insisted we sleep in the lounge room, which is his thing when he has trouble sleeping.

We were sitting on the couch at about midnight when I realised I felt ordinary too. Sore throat and congestion. Covid symptoms.

I sent a text message to Jimi, saying Jed was sick and upset and I would need to have a Covid test the next day. Melbourne was off.

But this was problematic. First it meant we wouldn’t be in our office to get the embargoed budget papers ahead of the Treasurer’s Budget speech. Secondly it meant that I wouldn’t be able to ask my question without notice in Question Time.

I just had to accept that. Until a couple of other collaborative women MPs stepped in to help.

The first was Fiona Patten. She is a political powerhouse and a dear friend. As soon as she was allowed, she texted me the news that we had the hospital funding. I was able to share the news with my team by Messenger. Everyone was elated. This was a huge moment and it felt like we were turning a corner.

The second was Suzanna Sheed. Her political achievements are the stuff of legend. Early on Thursday I had called Suzanna to offer her my Question Time spot, but instead she offered to ask my question for me. Despite the heckling from my opponents, she stood cool, calm and unruffled (typical Suzanna) as she helped out her Independent colleague who was quarantining 600 kilometres away.

Independent women, collaborating. It’s a thing. It’s mature, constructive and just plain civilised! It’s how politics should be done.

On Thursday night I had my first good night’s sleep in a week. I was deeply grateful for two things: our game-changing budget outcome, and the support of independent women.