Jay Weatherill has not separated the contentiously-paired Education and Child Development portfolios, but he has outsourced much of the controversy to a capable pair of cabinet hands.

Deputy Premier John Rau was this morning sworn in as minister for “Child Protection Reform”, taking responsibility for responding to the findings of the ongoing Royal Commission into Families SA and the scathing fallout from a coronial inquest into the death of four-year old Chloe Valentine.

The move shields incoming Education and Child Development Minister Susan Close, who as expected, was elevated to replace backbench-bound Jennifer Rankine. Effectively, Close can now operate as a traditional Education Minister, with Rau responsible for the incessant “bad news” cycle associated with the embattled Families SA agency. It is the job no-one wants in Government, with not only Rankine but at least one of her former media advisers opting out of the portfolio after being worn down by the constant scandal.

Attorney-General – and now Child Protection Reform Minister – John Rau

Close is still responsible for the Public Sector, but hands her Manufacturing, Innovation and Automotive Transformation portfolios to fellow left-winger and new cabinet electee Kyam Maher.

But while Weatherill has rewarded some of his Left colleagues, another – Ian Hunter – has been stripped of the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation portfolio, in which he has struggled with ongoing governance issues on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, failed to speak on an Opposition bill facilitating compensation for the Stolen Generations and fallen foul of a vote of no confidence in his handling of the ministry (he had previously lost another confidence motion over his handling of the Environment portfolio, which he retains.)

Aboriginal Affairs instead goes to Maher, giving him a cross-section of intractable portfolios, while Hunter is consoled with the newly-created Climate Change ministry.

Weatherill calls the ministerial tinkering “essentially a fine-tuning of portfolios”, a cosmetic reshuffle that InDaily first reported last month.

But it effectively hands Rau, already Attorney-General and Planning Minister, the toughest job in Government, while allowing Close to front the media largely on ‘soft’ issues such as school retention and ribbon-cuttings.