One of the standard statements about an incoming government is that it is not prepared for the challenge of maintaining power. Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes gave the floor to Parliament on Monday. “We have a government with very little experience,” he said.
In fact, Anthony Albanese will enter the cabinet as one of 11 ministers who have been there before. Nearly half of the cabinet will have cabinet experience, a much higher proportion than incoming governments led by John Howard in 1996, Kevin Rudd in 2007 and Tony Abbott in 2013.
Anthony Albanese has great portfolios to decide on and there is no shortage of experienced ministers. Credit: James Brickwood
The new prime minister is one of the few in the new government who has served in the cabinet for the full six years of Labor’s last term. The others are Tony Burke and Penny Wong.
A larger group held ministerial positions for six years. Chris Bowen, Brendan O’Connor and Tanya Plibersek served as ministers in 2007, while Bill Shorten began as Parliamentary Secretary for the Disabled and rose rapidly. They all became ministers over time.
At the end of Gillard’s tenure, cabinet ranks included Albanese, Bowen, Burke, Plibersek, and Shorten, as well as Mark Butler, Mark Dreyfus, and Brendan O’Connor.
Leadership disorders in those years were a factor in the promotions, so part of the brilliance of the cabinet experience reflects the flames of the Labor Civil War. Ministers were forced to resign after the aborted spills, and some cabinet ministers only briefly served in Rudd’s final ministry before the 2013 election. The final reshuffle added Julie Collins, Catherine King and Richard Marles to cabinet .
Albanese has large portfolios to decide on and there is no shortage of experienced ministers. The move by Marles, the Labor MP, to the defense portfolio, which has been an open secret for weeks, is forcing wider changes. The priorities are finding the right people for home affairs, employment, the environment and social services.
While the caucus will confirm the 30 people who will be in the executive, it is up to Albanese to name the portfolios and select those to enter the cabinet.
Prior to the election, the shadow cabinet consisted of Albanese, Marles, Wong, Kristina Keneally, Burke, Don Farrell, Jim Chalmers, Shorten, Plibersek, Mark Butler, Bowen, King, O’Connor, Dreyfus, Michelle Rowland , Katy Gallagher, Linda. Burney, Collins, Clare, Amanda Rishworth, Terri Butler, Madeleine King and Ed Husic, listed in the order used in Hansard.