But Giles will remain in the Foreign Office, and may take over the Veterans Affairs and Defence Materials portfolios, while O’Neill, the ambitious minister, may be moved to housing, another area where the government has failed to control the public debate on an issue of great concern to voters.
O’Neill’s move could see Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, who is seen within the government as a good salesman with broad public appeal, promoted to the Home Office. In another scenario, we could see Tony Burke, the government’s industrial relations minister and leader of the House of Commons, move to the Home Office, vacating the industrial relations role for Watt.
Julie Collins, Tasmanian MP and current Housing Minister, will switch to farming.
Last November, New Zealand’s High Court ruled against indefinite detention, leading to the release of 153 detainees. Many of these people were later found to have serious criminal records.
McCarthy, a senator from the Northern Territory, will take over from Burnie as minister for indigenous Australians and allow the government to recalibrate its message after last year’s vote-free referendum defeat.
download
Left-wing NSW senator Jenny McAllister will also be promoted to foreign affairs minister while Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh or Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy will change their portfolios and move to cabinet.
Also in the running for promotion are NSW MP Andrew Charlton, and Victorian MPs Kate Thwaites, Jess Walsh, Jana Stewart and Raf Ciccone, according to sources who asked not to be identified to discuss the reshuffle.
The prime minister’s spokeswoman declined to comment on speculation about a cabinet reshuffle.
Finance Minister Katie Gallagher said the new line-up would allow the government to choose fresh faces for the next federal election, due in the first half of 2025.
The Prime Minister has made it clear that he will announce the new front benches here in Canberra tomorrow. [Sunday]Senator Gallagher said in Canberra on Saturday:
“That would be a team that goes into the next election that is focused on serving Australians, particularly on the cost of living issue. A strong, unified team that is absolutely focused on serving Australians, and I think that would stand in good contrast to the divided and negative opposition led by Peter Dutton.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton continued to show the coalition’s determination to attack the performance of O’Neill and Giles.
“I really think Andrew Giles’ position is completely unacceptable. So he should go, that should be the first test of the prime minister, not just moving him to another position, he should go,” Dutton said on Sky TV on Saturday morning.
“There is no way in the world the Prime Minister would appoint Andrew Giles to a ministry, given what he has done so far. And of course, Claire O’Neill is the conspirator in all of this.
“I think there’s a lot of speculation at the moment about Murray Watt moving to the immigration portfolio… He’s basically a carbon copy of Andrew Giles. So you can change the salesperson, but you’re still going to have him reading the same script. They’re weak on the border and people are flooding into our mainland at the moment.”
Cut through the noise of federal politics with expert news, opinion and analysis. Subscribers can sign up for our weekly Inside Politics newsletter..
