A decision to postpone the Japan-Australia "two-plus-two" talks between the two nations' Defence and Foreign Affairs ministers has sparked a fresh round of talk about Marise Payne's future in the Defence portfolio.
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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop revealed the talks, which were due to take place next week, had been cancelled because of Senator Payne's illness. The Minister announced last month she had undergone surgery for a severe abdominal infection and has been absent; on Tuesday, she dialled in remotely to a cabinet meeting held in Canberra.
Speculation has been mounting among ambitious backbenchers that Senator Payne - along with Attorney-General George Brandis and Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion - could stand aside, or be moved on in a frontbench reshuffle by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Talk in Coalition ranks centres on Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne stepping up to take over the rest of the mammoth defence portfolio, while Senator Brandis is said to be bound for the High Commissioner's post in London, or potentially a position on the federal court.
Ms Bishop on Tuesday played down Senator Payne's absence and said that "we have spoken to our Japanese counterparts and they look forward to rescheduling in the new year".
Several cabinet ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, played down the prospect of a reshuffle in the short term.
"Malcolm is doubling down on Marise," one said, expressing a view that is broadly shared by the cabinet, "he isn't going to do anything to move her".
Several backbench MPs, however, said the ongoing absence of the Defence Minister was untenable. One labelled Mr Pyne a "menace" who was "clearly positioning for her job".
"It's no surprise he said [Labor's Anthony Albanese] is his only friend in politics."
The potential for a Senator Brandis-sized vacancy in Queensland has already sparked positioning in the Sunshine State.
Some who believe the position should go to a woman to even up the gender imbalance within Coalition ranks, have floated Teresa Harding, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat of Blair in the last election, and LNP Women president Theresa Craig.
Joanna Lindgren, who sat for just over a year in the Senate before losing her spot in the double dissolution election, is understood to not be in the running.
But former LNP leader Lawrence Springborg has emerged as the strongest candidate, after announcing he would not contest the next state election.
Having held the seat of Southern Downs for nearly three decades, Mr Springborg, who is known as the "father of the LNP", having led the merger between the two Queensland conservative parties, is popular with both Liberals and Nationals.
"He's still young, despite his long career in state politics; he is experienced, he is well liked and respected," one LNP source said.
"It would be hard seeing someone else pip him, if he decided he wanted it."
Others have labelled the speculation "a battle for a vacancy that doesn't exist yet".
But Senator Brandis' friends in Queensland politics have been few and far between since he was heard labelling his state colleagues "very, very mediocre" in a private conversation held in front of live microphones, prompting the response "London can't come soon enough", from one party colleague.
