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Not long after he'd been elected to Parliament, Josh Frydenberg called a Melbourne journalist and served up a hot tip. The Myer family was considering offering its century-old Toorak mansion Cranlana as an official Melbourne residence for the prime minister, he said. Perhaps give the family a call and they might talk about it.

The journalist agreed it was a good story and placed a call but the tip didn't quite stack up. The family would not confirm the yarn and the journalist was left with the impression Frydenberg was pushing the story because he wanted to live there one day when he, inevitably in his mind, fulfilled his burning ambition for the top job. (A Myer family representative yesterday said they had "discussed offering Cranlana to the Federal Government as a potential Victorian residence for the Prime Minister").

It's been 10 years this month since Frydenberg entered Federal Parliament and since day one he's been in a hurry. Shamelessly ambitious, he has rarely wasted a minute on his planned path to the prime ministership.

But it is the position he now holds, as Treasurer, which will likely define him.

As Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg's fortunes have changed - he'll soon be the author of Australia's largest deficit since World War II.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

And his fortunes have changed fast. At Christmas he was on the verge of handing down the nation's first budget surplus in more than a decade. Now he'll be the author of Australia's largest deficit since World War II.

Frydenberg is a people pleaser who likes, perhaps even needs, to be liked. And it's that quality which has planted doubts in the minds of some around him that the 49-year-old is up for the challenge. Try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one.

As one colleague remarked recently: "It's like he is always auditioning to be the man and he hasn't quite realised he is the man. And he will, ultimately, be judged on what he does next."

But even his detractors will grant him one thing: he has an unrivalled work ethic. Nothing proved this more than in January 2019, while when most of his cabinet colleagues were updating their LinkedIn profiles in anticipation of an election-year pounding, Frydenberg was taking the fight to Labor on tax day after day. All while he was consumed in a high-profile battle against Greens candidate, barrister Julian Burnside, in his blue-ribbon seat of Kooyong.

His parents' beach house in Lorne, on Victoria's Surf Coast, became his office and the holiday town's Stribling Reserve the site of daily press conferences and crosses into 24-hour TV news channels.

He has since told colleagues that, deep down, he didn't think the Coalition could win last May but he was damned if he wasn't going to empty his tank in his efforts to turn that around. His relentless positivity and tireless work rubbed off on some of his colleagues, who credit Frydenberg with re-focusing a party still at war following six years of bitter infighting.

As Minister for Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg came as close as anyone to landing a broadly supported, coherent energy policy.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

This week marks two years since the Victorian rose from the flaming wreck of the National Energy Guarantee, the contentious policy of which he was given carriage by Malcolm Turnbull, to become deputy Liberal leader and Treasurer.

It was reward for his approach in tackling a decade-long divide within the party over climate. He had come as close as anyone to landing a broadly supported, coherent energy policy. He won over every mainstream industry and interest group but in the end could not nail his backbench.

If Frydenberg does sleep - and there's sometimes reason to doubt he does - it cannot be more than five hours a night. Business leaders, public servants, fellow politicians, newspaper editors and journalists' phones regularly ping with the sound of a WhatsApp message from the Treasurer before dawn.

It's only between midnight and 5am a journalist is safe from a call or message from the Treasurer.

At every other waking hour he needs to be in control. And this extends to carefully crafted presentation in the media, where he leaves no stone unturned in networking and self-promotion.

Sometimes the call is because he thinks he's been unfairly treated in a story, or he wants to alert you to an opinion piece he's penned in a rival publication (this is of particular annoyance to many editors), or sometimes it can be genuine offers of help to those in need he's read about such as an inquiry into a recent Age report about the Yarra Valley Winter Shelter charity in eastern Melbourne.

It might be a friendly dig at your football team, or on occasion he'll even share fan mail, such as a recent missive from Judy from Granville, who wrote to say he wasn't to blame for the deteriorating budget, it was COVID-19, and he'd now replaced Keating as her favourite treasurer.

Following a high-profile spat with former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill over renewable energy three years ago, Frydenberg spent three hours on a Saturday afternoon texting selected gallery journalists the result of an online reader poll in the Adelaide Advertiser that showed he'd come out better of the pair.

Journalists commissioned to do profile pieces, like this one, often get unsolicited calls from colleagues ahead of publication too. They just by chance want to say something positive about Frydenberg. Deidre Chambers, what a coincidence.

Late-night, whispered phone calls to journalists with news tips are also common. Ask him why he's whispering? Usually it's because the kids, son Blake and daughter Gemma, or his wife Amie are asleep.

A triumphant Prime Minister took to the stage at last year's annual charity gathering of press, politicians and corporates in Canberra and made his treasurer the butt of the joke.

"Great to see you all here in one room tonight," Scott Morrison said. "Because I know that Josh isn't on the phone to any of you."

If Frydenberg is unhappy with how he or the government's position has been portrayed he'll let journalists know. There is nothing unique about that - Paul Keating, as treasurer and prime minister, would not think twice about confronting journalists personally if he believed they had wronged him. And usually with more venom than Frydenberg.

If Frydenberg is unhappy with how he or the government's position has been portrayed, he'll let journalists know.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Frydenberg, an affable and charming character both professionally and privately, is usually much more good natured. He keeps his temper in check. But his unsolicited feedback doesn't stop at just the journalists.

His unmatched corporate network includes plenty of media executives (he was best man at the wedding of Ryan Stokes, the son of Seven West Media owner Kerry). A text message to a reporter complaining about a story will usually be sent to their editor too and, possibly one or two members of the board. When he's particularly aggrieved, a call to the proprietor may sometimes follow.

The opposition used this well-known character trait to its advantage in June when shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers labelled him an "A-grade networker and a reserve-grade treasurer".

Labor backbench MP Ed Husic, elected at the same time as Frydenberg, had earlier that day complained in caucus that the media, including this masthead, had gone soft on the Treasurer and the government in the hope it would place tough regulations on digital platforms such as Google and Facebook. The irrelevance of being in opposition for a third-term has some in Labor resorting to outrageousness in the hope they get noticed. But Chalmers' line hit a raw spot. And some of Frydenberg's colleagues could not contain their chuckles.

His behaviour and eccentricities have driven his own staff wild. As a newly minted cabinet minister he would spend hours handwriting or dictating correspondence, endless newspaper op-eds, complete with suggested punctuation.

It's the non-stop networking and communication which has helped catapult him into his position at such a rapid rate. But now some within government wonder whether he has the capacity to concentrate his energy on the monumental task ahead.

Some, including those who sit around the cabinet table, pondered just how focused he was at times during the pandemic.

"We were announcing stimulus packages in the morning which were irrelevant by the afternoon, but you'd pick up the paper and read about how Josh did this or that and how the policy was formed," one colleague said on the condition of anonymity. "I thought to myself 'how on earth does he have the time to promote himself when we are dealing with the biggest challenge we've faced in a century?'"

Last month he hosted a weekend Zoom workout beamed around the nation's gyms for "Celeb Saturday". The same eyebrows were raised.

Frydenberg has spent much of August locked in self-quarantine in a Canberra apartment along with his senior adviser, Adam Clark. Five weeks from his second budget, he has conducted daily meetings via a secure video link. No other budget preparation has been quite like this.

The pandemic has again sparked calls for big vision, blue sky economic reform and investment in nation-changing infrastructure projects. The type of transformative changes associated with the Hawke-Keating governments or John Howard's first term. But Frydenberg has, so far, been cautious not to bite off more than he can chew.

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So it has been left to NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet to grab hold of the debate by seizing on a review he commissioned, led by former Telstra chief executive David Thodey, which urged the abolition of stamp duty and reform to the broader tax system.

In an alliance with the Victorian Treasurer, Perrottet has suggested lifting the rate or broadening the base of the GST, aligning payroll tax rates across states and tearing up complicated federal-state arrangements.

Former Treasury secretary and tax reform architect Ken Henry has been consistent with his views that Australia needs economic reform "like we've never seen before". Henry has warned the deteriorating tax system will work against any economic recovery after the coronavirus, and wants a new tax on business cash flow to replace the GST, payroll tax and insurance duties imposed by the states.

Likewise ANU economist Warwick McKibbin, who sat on the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia for a decade, says the government should review all government spending and move towards a consumption-based tax system.

"We need a review of what we're spending, see where there is duplication with the states. It has to be comprehensive," he said.

The federal Treasurer hasn't bitten publicly but has told colleagues while GST reform might be a sensible long-term proposal, his priorities remain getting the Australian public through the pandemic and out the other side.

"Like the PM, Josh tells people ... GST reform right now won't create one job," one Liberal MP says. "While he is right to be focused on these things, there are many of us who want the government to be brave and take on some of these tough things right now. We won't get a better opportunity."

Bernie Fraser, who as governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia steered Australia out of its last recession from 1989 to 1996, wants the Morrison government to take advantage of record low interest rates to invest in large-scale investment in economic and social infrastructure and consider tax incentives which target the right productive investment.

Josh Frydenberg addresses the National Press Club Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The biggest insight Frydenberg has provided to the government's economic intentions in recent months came at his National Press Club address last month.

"I notice in the Financial Review today, not everyone is a Keynesian and thinking about income support. It is important to go to the supply side. Thatcher, Reagan, that's an inspiration," he said. "What we will continue to do is create incentives. When we put in place tax cuts or business incentives or try to cut red tape or go to the supply side of the equation that's going to be critical."

Ensuring the substance of his argument was almost completely lost, he doubled down on the theme on the ABC's Insiders a few days later when he argued Reagan and Thatcher "dealt very successfully with the challenges that they faced, particularly stagflation, high unemployment, high inflation".

"The reality is that Thatcher and Reagan cut red tape, they cut taxes and they delivered stronger economies."

Frydenberg may have a point. But the wisdom of invoking the duo at a time when the government has offered an olive branch to the union movement left many of his colleagues bewildered and frustrated.

Scott Morrison wasn't in the mood for playing along with the adulation of the '80s conservative idols either, and offered a curt response when asked whether he agreed with his treasurer.

"We're leading an Australian response to this," the Prime Minister said. "A uniquely Australian response and that Australian response requires us to address the supply-side issues in our economy.

"It's jobs that drive the Australian plan. Nothing else."

It was portrayed as a "slap down" by the press gallery, which annoyed Frydenberg, who insisted Morrison didn't have a problem with his comments and he didn't regret them.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison enjoy a close working relationship.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The pair enjoy a close working relationship. There is rarely, publicly at least, a cigarette paper between the two on policy. No signs of the type of competitive tensions that dominated the relationship between John Howard and Peter Costello. Or indeed Morrison and Turnbull.

The comments left many questioning Frydenberg's judgment at a time where the unions were needed to achieve critical industrial relations reform.

"The average Australian right now doesn't want to hear the Treasurer singing love songs to British and US leaders of 30 years ago," one Liberal said. "They want to know what he's doing to keep them in jobs."

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Labor thinks they've been given a campaign gift on the comments alone. But Frydenberg won fans among a few right-wing commentators who had previously gone cold on the government for its $260 billion spend-a-thon over recent months.

It's another example of trying to be all things to all people. He was an early supporter of same-sex marriage within the party. Yet, as assistant treasurer, he remained loyal to Tony Abbott to the final hours of his prime ministership. He was at the notorious wake in the ministerial wing that evening, although he insists he'd left by the time former treasurer Joe Hockey broke a marble table by dancing on it and Jamie Briggs injured his knee as he tried to tackle Abbott. He stuck it out with Turnbull until the end, too, although some still loyal to the previous PM questioned just how hard he fought in those bruising days two years ago this week.

Frydenberg was in the right place at the right time two years ago. But the question remains whether he's up to the task of rebuilding the economy in the year ahead. While they can't question how hard he's prepared to work, the bottom line is even his colleagues aren't quite sure what he stands for.

This article has been updated to incorporate a statement from the Myer family about their discussions with the federal government on possibly donating a Melbourne home for the use of the Prime Minister.

Rob Harris is the National Affairs Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based at Parliament House in Canberra

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Josh Frydenberg and the monumental task that will define him - Sydney Morning Herald