That weapon is the ill-conceived Ministerial sex ban which spells out that any intimate encounters between Cabinet members and their staff are a breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

Mr Turnbull, who introduced the ban in response to the crisis engulfing his government as a result of the Barnaby Joyce affair, seems to have given no thought to the consequences of what appears to have been an Abbott-style "Captain's pick" decision.

His belated attempt to display something akin to strength and leadership has opened a can of worms that threatens to dominate the political discourse for months.

As of Thursday afternoon, any hint of a sexual liaison involving a Coalition Minister and one of their staffers is legitimate front page news.

We are facing a future in which, as one commentator was quick to point out, there will be a "caterwauling free-for-all" with an open season on affairs, transgressions and breakups and telephoto lenses waiting for the unwary.

As the code only applies to Mr Turnbull's government, ALP members and future ministers likely have nothing to worry about.

How long will it be before the revelations start coming? The House on the Hill has been home to a culture of rumours, gossip and innuendo.

While Mr Turnbull may have been justified in his criticism of Mr Joyce's error of personal judgement, his own errors of political judgement in his handling of the events of the past week are on a par.

When Parliament rose, on a high note for the PM, at the end of 2017 nobody would have thought the Coalition would be in such disarray by mid-February.

Because Mr Turnbull, who was describing his deputy as a "hero" following Mr Joyce's by-election win on December 2, chose to attack Mr Joyce's personal conduct so vigorously and publicly in addition to effectively telling him to resign, there are now serious doubts about their relationship.

Mr Joyce was quick to respond that The National's resent outside interference in their affairs, that Mr Turnbull was out of line and that his troops had drawn the wagons into a circle and closed ranks behind him.

Left unsaid was the fact The Nationals are now a very significant Coalition player given they performed significantly better in the 2016 poll than their Liberal counterparts.

The question now being asked is whether or not the relationship between the PM and his deputy can survive and, if it does, what form will it take?

Tanya Plibersek, one of the few people who appears to be talking sense, was spot on when she said inappropriate Ministerial relationships were a matter for common sense and decency, not a code of conduct.

If a politician is too dumb to get that it is not a good idea to go to sleep with a subordinate they aren't smart enough to be in Cabinet.