Source : the age
Peter Dutton risks upsetting some of his most senior MPs as he chooses between a growing list, which now includes deputy Sussan Ley, jockeying for the foreign affairs portfolio, and considers whether to let a prominent Voice backer return to the frontbench.
The opposition leader could unveil his reshuffled shadow ministry as soon as this weekend and is considering promoting both Julian Leeser, who quit as shadow attorney-general to campaign for the Indigenous Voice to parliament last year, and right-wing heavyweight Michael Sukkar.
The contest, sparked by the upcoming retirement of senior moderates including foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham, has consumed the party over summer and will test Dutton’s authority as the party’s moderate and conservative Queensland wings vie for influence.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has expressed interest in taking on the prestigious foreign affairs portfolio.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Immigration spokesman Dan Tehan and home affairs spokesman James Paterson are both strong contenders for the foreign affairs position, and finance spokeswoman Jane Hume has also thrown her hat in the ring.
Ley, who is the party’s spokesperson for women, skills, industry and small business, was initially uninterested in the role but changed her mind over summer, party sources said. As party deputy leader, convention dictates Ley has a right to pick her portfolio.
One MP said Ley had “runs on the board” through her dogged work in opposition and had more experience than other candidates as a parliamentarian of 23 years. But another said she was viewed internally as a domestic mudslinger who “can get a line up on commercial TV”, which she would have to give up in the foreign affairs role.
Tehan and Paterson are both in high-profile portfolios, but each could be held alongside foreign affairs until an election due by May.
Sources said Leeser was likely to return to a junior frontbench position after he quit the shadow cabinet to campaign for the Voice in 2023. His vocal campaigning against antisemitism has won him credit with the party’s right flank.
“There will be anger from some on the right who think he made a fatal mistake by misreading the party and national mood so badly on the Voice,” one MP said. “But he’s a talent and a serious operator who most think should be brought back into the fold.”
Some MPs have expressed concerns about Paterson’s hawkish criticism of the Chinese government, arguing it could alienate diaspora voters turned off the Coalition by the Morrison government’s tough talk.
Tehan also faces a fight with the teals in his regional Victorian seat of Wannon and any move to an internationally focused portfolio could be used by local opponents to portray him as distracted.
Hume is unlikely to be moved from her economic role.
In a term that has seen few policy feuds within the opposition, reshuffles and resignations have created some of the biggest headaches for Dutton, who is neck and neck with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in polling but starts from 19 seats behind the 76 required to win a majority.
Party moderates are pushing to retain influence after two top small-l liberals, Birmingham and Paul Fletcher, announced their retirements. At the same time, conservatives and Queensland LNP members are demanding more positions based on their numerical advantage in the party room.
Right-wing Victorian MP Michael Sukkar is tipped to become manager of opposition business in the House, elevating him to the leadership grouping and potentially requiring him to give up one of his portfolios of housing, social services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
All MPs vying for promotions either declined to comment, as did Dutton’s office, or did not respond by deadline.
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