Malcolm Turnbull’s interview with Monica Attard yesterday was good for him and for the Liberal Party. It re-established Turnbull as the leader of the non-conservative wing of the Liberal Party, while also making it clear that Turnbull is a team player interested in securing a Liberal Party victory at the next election. In other words he is not going to be a spoiler.

It is now time for Tony Abbott to bring him back onto the front bench. If Abbott is street smart, and I believe he is, then he will make Turnbull the health spokesman. There are good reasons to do this. Firstly Turnbull is probably the only person in Parliament that Rudd believes is his intellectual superior, secondly Turnbull has the capacity to pull together a credible health policy and to debate Rudd on the issue. Thirdly Turnbull has no baggage to carry in the health area and finally he will easily deal with Nicola Roxon. Labor sees health as a winner for the election and Turnbull will change the dynamics of this perception.

It is clear that Abbott cannot carry a health debate because he will be out fighting in the marginal seats. Turnbull, anchored in Sydney will be able to get plenty of oxygen unlike Peter Dutton who will be chained to his electorate during the campaign.

This raises the issue of what to do with Dutton. The logical thing would be to have him oppose Chris Bowen on Human Services. It is an area Bowen seems not interested in, preferring to focus on financial services, and it would repay some attention without being a headline grabber, leaving Dutton more time to retain his marginal electorate.