Yesterday’s reshuffle by Tony Abbott was perfect in every way, except one — he could have sent Barnaby Joyce to the backbench and failed to.

Better on the inside of the tent pissing out? Ask those inside the “broad tent” of the Liberal Party, as John Brogden used to call it, who’ve been micturated upon by Joyce since he became Finance spokesman and had to clean up the mess afterwards.

And, to really strain the metaphor, there’ll be more spraying of liquid now that Joyce has been given the water portfolio.

Joyce holds opposite views on water to Liberal MPs, um, downstream of him from St George. Diametrically opposite. Joyce and Bill Heffernan, who knows more than anyone in politics about water issues, have clashed repeatedly over issues like Cubbie Station, which Joyce has supported so aggressively he accused Heffernan and Senator Nick Xenophon of helping force it into administration last year.

And that’s before we get to South Australia, where young Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham has been running hard on the inadequacy of the Government’s response to the Murray-Darling crisis and the need for more water to reach his state.

Birmingham was rewarded for his advocacy — and for being about the smartest backbencher in the party — by Tony Abbott with a Parliamentary Secretaryship on the MDB, under Ian Macfarlane, who has kept a low profile generally since the leadership spill.

Birmingham now will work with Joyce, but given Joyce and Macfarlane are both Queenslanders, there not be that great a difference.

In any event, Tony Abbott early on took a strong line on water, proposing a referendum on a federal takeover of the MDB if insufficient progress hadn’t been made on management and interstate cooperation by 2013.

This immediately put him offside with irrigators and even with some advocates of greater MDB action, who warned the referendum would never pass. But that is the policy Joyce will have to sell as Water spokesman. Abbott has made the bed, and Joyce will have to find enough blankets and pillows to be comfortable lying in it.

You can see why the trouble from Joyce might not yet be over just because he now gets to talk about infrastructure and regional issues rather than the likelihood of the US or Australia defaulting.

On the other hand, Andrew Robb is back in the political frontline. Finally, the Abbott economic team has some substance, and not soon enough given the Budget is only weeks away.  Robb has taken longer than expected to recover from his illness but given his economics background and campaigning experience he is ideally placed as both Finance spokesman and the Opposition’s policy coordinator. He lacks Joyce’s profile and he’s not the greatest media performer, but he has the advantage 1. of understanding economics and finance and 2. of sounding credible when he says something.  His match-up with Lindsay Tanner will be engrossing.

And then there’s Malcolm.

Abbott made the right call. After all, he had seen what Turnbull did to Brendan Nelson from the position of shadow Treasurer. Even when Turnbull did nothing, his mere presence was a source of destabilisation and speculation. Given there’s only a matter of months until the election, it would have been an incredible risk, despite Turnbull’s attractions as a Finance spokesman, the strength of his Parliamentary performance and the unifying appearance of the appointment.

Nonetheless, Turnbull, having made himself available to serve under the man who took the leadership from him by one vote, has been rebuffed and embarrassed publicly. For those reading the tea leaves on whether he’ll stay in politics or not, the rebuff might grounds to consider Turnbull will chuck it in. But it can just as easily be read as evidence he was willing to stay in politics beyond the next election.

In which case, having tried to be a team player and been knocked back, Turnbull might feel he need display no loyalty to Abbott before or after the election. Turnbull would never have been held back by a small matter of loyalty, but now he might feel he can go after Abbott with a clear conscience.