Source : the age
The Labor Left is poised to gain a key place in the federal ministry after winning up to a dozen seats at the election, taking a prized position vacated by former party leader Bill Shorten and extending its influence in government.
The moves depend on the final election tally, with many seats still in doubt, but have already triggered concerns in the party’s Right faction about the limited options for promotion into the ministry and cabinet.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will have to dole out an extra ministry to the left faction. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will convene a caucus meeting in Parliament House on Friday to mark the historic victory last Saturday and formalise the vote on the membership of the ministry, clearing the way for him to allocate the portfolios.
The caucus will increase from 103 members and senators before the election to at least 110 and as many as 121 after the votes are finalised.
The Labor Left will add more members to the caucus than the Right, shifting the balance of power within the parliamentary party and so giving it another position in the ministry.
Incoming Tasmanian MP Rebecca White, a former state opposition leader, is seen as a likely appointment to the ministry in the Left faction vote. The other leading candidates are Ged Kearney, a former president of the ACTU, and Jess Walsh, an economist and former union official.
The three Left faction members are in line to replace the position in the ministry vacated by Shorten before the election, but this is likely to mean a place in the outer ministry rather than cabinet.
Albanese elevated Aged Care Minister Anika Wells to cabinet before the election, filling Shorten’s position at that level with a prominent member of the Queensland Right.
Another position in the ministry was left vacant when former assistant treasurer Stephen Jones retired before the election, setting up a promotion for another MP from the left to take a full ministerial position. The leading candidate is Tim Ayres, the NSW senator and assistant minister.
Several ministers and MPs, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the factional calculations were important. However, Albanese had the ultimate say on the ministry, given his authority after winning the election.
Rebecca White was drafted in by Anthony Albanese to hold Lyons after local member Brian Mitchell retired.Credit: Joe Armao
Members of the Victorian Right are pushing to gain an additional place in the ministry because of their claim to have stronger numbers, but this sets up a clash with the NSW Right and would force Albanese to demote one of their number.
The NSW Right includes some of the most senior cabinet ministers in Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Education Minister Jason Clare and Industry Minister Ed Husic. In the outer ministry, it includes Regional Development Minister Kristy McBain.
The Victorian Right will struggle to gain promotion for one of its leading figures, senator Raff Ciccone, if the NSW Right does not lose any positions.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed on Tuesday she would serve a full term, declaring, “I absolutely will” in response to media speculation about her future.
“I’m really looking forward to not only doing good things this term, but working in a government that has a capacity to be a really long-term Labor government and to change this country for the better,” she told the ABC.
Wong also admitted to some surprise at the scale of the Labor victory, given the party has 87 seats in the latest count and is likely to gain more. “It’s at the upper end of my expectations,” she said.
The Left is expected to increase its share of the caucus after the success of the faction’s candidates in the seat of Banks in NSW; Bass and Braddon in Tasmania; Bonner, Brisbane, Dickson, Griffith and Leichhardt in Queensland; Moore in Western Australia; and Menzies in Victoria.
The Melbourne seat of Menzies is yet to be decided, however, with Liberal MP Keith Wolahan in with a chance.
The seat of Melbourne, held by Greens leader Adam Bandt, hangs in the balance and might fall to Sarah Witty from the Labor Left. But another member of the faction, Lisa Chesters, is fighting to hang on in the seat of Bendigo and another, Basem Abdo, is waiting on the count in the Victorian seat of Calwell.
The Right faction added Deakin in Victoria, Hughes in NSW, Petrie in Queensland and Sturt in South Australia.
The Right is fighting to retain the ACT seat of Bean, where its MP is under threat from an independent, and is hoping that the former member for the seat of Higgins, Michelle Ananda-Rajah, will gain a place in the Senate. Four more senate seats remain in play.
A Labor caucus of 116 would comprise 58 members from the Left, 56 from the Right and non-aligned ACT MPs Andrew Leigh and Alicia Payne.
Read more on Labor’s landslide election win
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