In a quiet but potentially significant move, Assistant Treasurer Mal Brough is to take over the task of briefing the federal press gallery after joint party meetings from South Australian backbencher Andrew Southcott.

Southcott was widely admired for his ability to say absolutely nothing that hadn’t been pre-approved in the many hours between the meeting ending and the de-brief. The problem with this approach is that hacks would immediately ring around the party room and the full story would rapidly emerge. It’s fair to say senior gallery reporters were less-than-enthusiastic about Stonewall Southcott’s performance.

His replacement with a more heavyweight performer like Brough signals that the government wants a stronger spokesman to spin the message from an increasingly fractious and divided party room; someone the gallery is more likely to believe.

The appointment of Brough to replace Southcott, however, appears as much strategic as it is practical. The Prime Minister makes these decisions, and he makes them deliberately and carefully.

The Liberals have traditionally used the de-brief to blood potential front benchers, while the ALP has used it to blood potential leaders (past Labor de-briefers include Wayne Swan and Mark Latham; currently Julia Gillard spins the partyroom story to the media).

So what’s Brough doing in there? With Howard, you can never ignore the leadership factor. If the PM were to power-walk on to another term, then Brough would have time, and a platform, to build his profile as a leadership contender. Especially if he shines in the de-brief.