Mighty hand-raising gestures: Chris Bowen, Tanya Plibersek and
Kate Ellis. Photo: Andrew Meares   But expectations were not
exactly high when Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Opposition
Leader Bill Shorten flew out to Johannesburg first thing on
Monday.   Flamboyant response: Julie Bishop and Christopher
Pyne. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen  For one thing, the two leaders
were leaving the political debate firmly stuck on repeat. With
the carbon tax repeal and the debt ceiling up for discussion
once more, the parliamentary track list had all the novelty
value of the Christmas CDs playing in shopping centres at the
moment. For another, Warren Truss, the acting Prime Minister, is
not a man famous for his overwhelming charisma.  Nevertheless,
Parliament took a big sip of Coke Zero and braced itself for the
2pm battle in the House: Truss versus Plibersek.  Proceedings
started sombrely with a condolence motion on former South
African president Nelson Mandela. Truss spoke of the passing of
a ''great man'' and, in an unusual