Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he believed Bowman MP Andrew Laming would "find his way to the front bench in due course on merit" regardless of the party's leader.
"He's a really capable member of Parliament and brings all of that diverse experience in medicine to the parliament," he said.
"He's not a cookie-cutter MP; he's not a political apparatchik; he's a really unique, talented individual."
The pair started working closely before the recent spill motion challenging Tony Abbott's leadership.
Mr Laming sparked the leadership motion last month when he called for a Bill to abolish knights and dames, directly challenging Mr Abbott's "captain's call" to award Prince Philip a knighthood.
Mr Laming said his proposed Bill was not a defacto way to gauge support for Mr Turnbull or sentiment against the first-term prime minister.
