When George Brandis thumbed through an anthology of Australian verse during a Senate estimates committee hearing last week, it wasn't his laconic presentation nor his literary taste that struck his colleagues. It was his political judgment.

This was rhyme without reason. Here was an Attorney-General who, despite his onerous responsibilities at the fulcrum of the war on terrorism, wanted it known he did not have a worry in the world. Certainly there was no sense of him being vexed by his own department's bungled handling of correspondence with the Martin Place siege gunman, Man Haron Monis. Nor, as would be revealed the next day, that Parliament had been misled over it, necessitating an embarrassing correction of the record.

The incident fits into a pattern of political snafus and has fuelled speculation that the nation's first law officer could become the most senior political casualty of a mooted pre-election reshuffle towards the end of this year. Although, he might be pipped in that dubious distinction by the increasingly plausible demise of an even bigger scalp, that of Treasurer Joe Hockey.

"George is a recidivist," joked one government MP drily, acknowledging what he described as a "litany" of ministerial missteps.