Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has reshuffled her shadow ministry, following a challenging week, to say the least. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Sussan Ley has reshuffled the shadow ministry in the wake of her sacking Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and she is hoping the week ahead is a far better one for the Coalition than last week’s tumultuous ride.
The Opposition Leader has moved West Australian MP Melissa Price from the cyber security and science portfolio into the role vacated by Senator Nampijinpa Price.
Ms Price is now the shadow minister for defence industry and personnel.
Rightwing Tasmanian Senator Claire Chandler returns to the frontbench as shadow minister for cyber security and science, after being demoted following the May election.
“In recent months, Senator Chandler has worked diligently in prosecuting Labor’s national security missteps. She has a deep passion for the subject matter in both these important portfolios,” Ms Ley said on Sunday (14 September).
“The Hon Melissa Price MP retains her position in the shadow ministry, but moves to the role of shadow minister for defence industry and shadow minister for defence personnel.
“As a former minister in the portfolio, she brings crucial experience to these responsibilities.
“Simon Kennedy MP joins the shadow ministry in the newly created role of shadow assistant minister for artificial intelligence, shadow assistant minister for the digital economy and shadow assistant minister for scrutiny of government waste.
“Simon is one of the brightest minds in the parliament and is a welcome addition to the shadow executive.”
Shadow finance minister James Paterson joins the Opposition’s formal leadership group, with Ms Ley noting that he is already at the centre of developing the Coalition’s economic agenda.
The reshuffle was seen as a test of Ms Ley’s leadership following her move to sack Senator Nampijinpa Price, with numerous Liberal Party members warning that the dumped Senator’s position must be filled with another member from the party’s right wing.
The wider-than-anticipated reshuffle, however, appears to have got the mix good enough right to keep Coalition troops happy, so far.
A number of senior Liberals publicly offered their support on Sunday for Ms Ley’s decisions.
Senator Nampijinpa Price was axed from the Opposition’s frontbench over not apologising for her migration comments that were hurtful to the Indian community, and for not being willing to support Ms Ley’s leadership.
After the sacking, and following a week of the saga spiralling out of control for the Coalition, the Opposition Leader then offered an apology to Australian Indians.
Senator Nampijinpa Price, who acknowledges it was a mistake to say Indian migration numbers are up because they vote Labor, insists she won’t be silenced on migration.
But while some Coalition members were furious with Ms Ley over how the situation was handled, most agree she had to remove Senator Nampijinpa Price from her frontbench.
Deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien said Ms Ley made the right call.
“Jacinta ultimately was unable to confirm her confidence in Sussan’s leadership,” he said on Friday.
“Therefore, Sussan made the right call, and to Jacinta’s credit, she accepted that it was the right call.
“It’s been a messy week, there’s no doubt about that. But we now need just to move on and get back to the real job at hand.”
Others were not so gentle, with backbenchers Jane Hume and Sarah Henderson – who were both axed from the Coalition’s frontbench after the election – publicly expressing their displeasure with how it all played out.
“This has been a totally unedifying week for the Coalition and is not something we want to repeat; it’s something that we should learn from,” Senator Hume said last week.
“The most important thing now is that we move on and start talking about what’s important to Australians.”
Senator Henderson was even stronger in her criticism and described it as “disappointing” that Senator Nampijinpa Price was sacked.
“The Liberal Party needs to be better at supporting our own, including, of course, female MPs and senators, given the importance of attracting more women into the party and the parliament,” Senator Henderson said.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party is enjoying the spectacle from the sidelines and providing the expected commentary.
Anthony Albanese said the Liberal Party needed to “get their act together” and stop their infighting.
“The Coalition are very much focused on themselves. The comments with regard to the Indian community from Senator Jacinta Nampijimpa Price were unacceptable,” the Prime Minister said.
“What I’m interested in is social inclusion and bringing people together, not dividing people for some perceived political advantage.”
