Newly-elevated minister Linda Reynolds has delivered mixed messages on the difference made by the number of women in cabinet.
Promoting Senator Reynolds to the defence industry portfolio last week, the prime minister noted there was now a record number of seven women in cabinet.
Senator Reynolds initially said the number of women "absolutely" made a difference to cabinet decisions.
"In any organisation where you have a critical mass - and generally that's about 25 to 30 per cent - it does change the dynamics of any board or any workplace or in this place cabinet," she told Sky News on Sunday.
"What you've seen in private enterprise, I think, is the same in politics.
"When you get more diversity of thought and how we think, what we say and how we assess situations, it's very clear that better decisions are made."
However, Senator Reynolds denied suggestions the makeup of the current cabinet would make better decisions than when there was only one woman in the senior ministry under Tony Abbott.
"No, that's not what I'm saying," she said.
"What I'm saying is having diversity of thought, having diversity of opinion and also approach to life, in any workplace it only makes things more effective."
The minister later argued the issue was not necessarily the number of women in cabinet.
"It's who you have and the abilities that they have," she said.
"It's not just the fact that we're women, it's the fact that the other six women are all extraordinarily capable women (who) come from very diverse backgrounds and diverse professional backgrounds.
"We do bring a different way of thinking but also great experience, as our men do."
