Marise Payne and Stuart Robert (Images: AAP)

The best thing one can say about Scott Morrison’s Titanic deckchair reshuffle — sorry, cabinet reshuffle — is that at least we didn’t get Stuart Robert as home affairs minister.

For days “well-placed sources” in the Canberra gallery had spread that move widely, apparently softening us up for such a controversial promotion. Robert’s only apparent qualification for such a powerful role was that he’s one of Morrison’s besties, having shared a house with him in Canberra and being the key numbers man who delivered the prime ministership for his mate.

Given Robert’s long and dubious track record he’s lucky to be in the ministry at all (though you could also say that about many of his cabinet colleagues). He was dumped by Malcolm Turnbull and resurrected by Morrison, but the internal pushback to the Home Affairs idea meant he was given Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business instead.

Some think even that is too much, but to be fair, given Robert’s own family and small business wheeling and dealing, it could be interesting.

The Home Affairs vacancy was created by the less controversial move of Peter Dutton to Defence to replace Linda Reynolds. (As I wrote in Crikey on February 17 — two days after the Brittany Higgins story broke and even before the Reynolds “lying cow” comments sealed her fate — this was always the game plan it would seem.)

Replacing tough guy ex-cop Dutton in Home Affairs with a female — Karen Andrews — was not only good optics. She’s a former engineer who showed smarts in the Industry, Science and Technology portfolio, and she was the first to break ranks over gender quotas last week. This, of course, prepares her for the inevitable undermining that she is not “tough” enough for the role. We’ll see.

As for the rest of the patronising female-friendly appointments — what can you say?

For a start it was merely promoting and giving some silly new titles to the females who were already in the tent. These women have had little impact until now, so I’m not sure what’s expected to change — or change for anything longer that a couple of news and polling cycles.

As I wrote last week, the women have belatedly found their voice in this government — but is the spin about having more women in cabinet really about quantity over quality?

To put it in terms our footy-loving PM would understand: he does not have a very deep bench.

Returning the embarrassingly useless Melissa Price into cabinet says it all. As does Michaela Cash as attorney-general. And then there his brief “co-prime minister”, Marise Payne, who has been such a waste of space as minister for women. She has not just been absent in the role. She’s been invisible. Not just a disappointment but a disgrace. Yet she now has “leadership” on all women’s issues.

Being charitable, she probably has a big enough job trying to follow in Julie Bishop’s big heels as foreign affairs minister, so perhaps the new expanded role might have been better given to someone else.

Recognising Payne’s “demanding job”, Morrison expanded the government team focused on women’s issues to include such ridiculous titles as “minister for women’s economic security” for Superannuation Minister Jane Hume — who by rights should have already been doing that.

Joining the team will be arch conservative Senator Amanda Stoker, who is also tipped to move to the lower house to replace Andrew Laming when he finally steps down at the next election.

Like all these women, she will support the offensive Laming staying in Parliament until then because it works politically for Chief Bloke Morrison. And for them too, presumably.

How good is Scott Morrison and his newfound passion to elevate women? Write to letters@crikey.com.au and let us know. Please include your full name to be considered for publication in Crikey’s Your Say section.