Greg Hunt's smile suffused his entire face as the new ministry was sworn in – who can blame him? He's been the Environment Minister (or shadow) since 2007 (and was even the responsible parliamentary secretary for three years before that). Now he's escaped to the blancmange of Industry, Innovation and Science. It only seems fair to note, despite all the promise, and all that time and effort, he leaves without any particular achievements. So much promise; such little by way of accomplishment. Hardly an inspiring track record for such a critical promotion.

And his replacement, Josh Frydenberg, a man Andrew Bolt hails as Mr Coal. For a start, the optics are all wrong. It's obvious this isn't the ministry Turnbull wanted, it's the one he's been forced to own. Ask yourself, what sort of edifice is likely to be built on such shaky foundations?

If you still have any hope, just look at the huge, beaming grin of the person who was standing next to Hunt at Government House last week, Christopher Pyne. He rightly looked like the cat that had got the cream. He now controls the lion's share (54 per cent; look it up) of Defence's budget and his irrepressible personality, together with a portfolio responsible for shaping the future look of the forces, will ensure he eventually becomes dominant. Anyone who thinks this appointment has anything to do with good government hasn't been paying attention, although that's no reflection on Pyne himself. This is political dysfunction, born of electoral failure and delivered by Malcolm Turnbull.

Politically, the split is part of solving the PM's immediate problem of creating space for the biggest ministry since the Fraser years. He's distributing baubles to keep the children sweet, even if the Queenslanders are already disgruntled because they've lost out. In policy terms, however, this reckless splitting of the Defence portfolio will result in ongoing paralysis. It's no secret that Marise Payne's office is dysfunctional, but the answer to this is to move on her chief-of-staff, not to split an entire portfolio.