BARNABY JOYCE has been ousted from the finance portfolio and Malcolm Turnbull snubbed in an opposition frontbench reshuffle. Andrew Robb has returned to shadow cabinet and been given control of spending plans.
The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, bowed to pressure and used the resignation of Nick Minchin from the shadow cabinet to shuffle Senator Joyce out of finance and put an end to claims that the colourful Queensland National was damaging the Coalition's economic credibility.
But the reshuffle failed to dampen government criticism when, as a compromise, Senator Joyce was given responsibility for water.
He does not have a collegiate attitude towards water sharing in the Murray-Darling basin and is an ardent supporter of the giant Cubbie Station cotton farm. The Nationals oppose Mr Abbott's plan for a referendum on handing control of the river system to the federal government.
The Climate Change and Water Minister, Penny Wong, said Mr Abbott had put the fox in charge of the henhouse.
"It is unbelievable that the Coalition still hasn't learnt the lessons of the past 100 years of mismanagement of the Murray-Darling basin,'' she said.
"Senator Joyce is opposed to reducing how much water we take out of the rivers, but everyone knows that the only way we will keep our rivers healthy is by reducing how much water we take out of them."
After a series of gaffes and accusations that he has made reckless economic statements, Senator Joyce was moved to infrastructure and water, and regional development.
Ian Macfarlane will resume responsibility for energy and resources, which he lost to Senator Minchin after Mr Abbott became leader. Mr Macfarlane, like Mr Turnbull, was a strong supporter of the government's emissions trading scheme.
Mr Robb, who stepped down from the frontbench six months ago to deal with depression, has become the Coalition's fifth finance spokesman since the election in 2007.
On Wednesday, Mr Turnbull let it be known that he was willing to return to the frontbench, but was overlooked.
A source close to Mr Abbott said Mr Turnbull's chances were ''non-existent'' because any frontbench return would have required him to renounce his support for an ETS and to embrace Mr Abbott's ''direct action'' climate change plan. Mr Turnbull has described the plan as ''bullshit''.
Mr Abbott said yesterday it would have been ''premature'' to bring back Mr Turnbull, given that the ETS legislation was still before Parliament, but he would offer him ''a senior role''' should the Coalition win the election.
Mr Turnbull is yet to announce whether he will recontest his seat of Wentworth at the election but, after yesterday, senior colleagues believed there was less chance of his staying on.
The NSW Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, yesterday backed Mr Turnbull's return to the frontbench.
Mr Abbott refused to concede he had erred by appointing Senator Joyce to finance in the first place. He said Senator Joyce had been unfairly targeted.
''I don't want him to be necessarily chained to a desk costing policies. He will continue to represent the finance portfolio in the Senate and I think that this is going to be the right fit for him, the right fit for us and the right fit for the Coalition,'' he said.
The Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner, said Mr Abbott should not have waited until the resignation of Senator Minchin to dump Senator Joyce.
''Mr Abbott's failure to make this decision for the last four months proves he can't be trusted to manage the Australian economy,'' he said.
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