Daniel Wills analysis: Can new-look Liberals finally wrest office?
ANALYSIS: THIS is the reshuffle that Liberal Leader Steven Marshall had to have, injecting new blood into the party’s shadow cabinet, but not one that everyone expected he would finally deliver.
- Steven Marshall shakes up shadow cabinet
- Sam Duluk to contest seat of Waite held by Martin Hamilton-Smith
THIS is the reshuffle that Liberal Leader Steven Marshall had to have, injecting new blood into the party’s shadow cabinet, but not one that everyone expected he would finally deliver.
The major public criticisms of the SA Liberal Party are that it lacks the robust policy platform demanded of any serious alternative government, has been destroyed by the self-serving agendas of various aspiring leaders and it fails to renew from within despite a long record of failure.
The Liberals have a lot of heavy lifting left to do over the next 14 months until the state election to lay out a compelling policy agenda with convincing plans to fix all that currently ails SA.
All current polls show the Liberals have not converted frustration with Labor into votes for them.
The electorate is currently examining all options, including the Nick Xenophon Team.
But this reshuffle, and Mr Marshall’s four-year survival as leader (a modest amount of time by most standards but eternity in the modern SA Liberal Party) mark progress on the other points.
Coming into the shadow cabinet are two young MPs who deserve their positions on merit.
Barossa Valley MP Stephan Knoll has used the Liberals’ wastewatch program to drive more media than many of his more senior colleagues.
He is already being seen as a likely successor to veteran Liberal Rob Lucas in the critical treasury portfolio, and possible future leader.
Southern suburbs MP David Speirs made a name for himself with straight-talking speeches about widespread public disillusion with politics, and demands that governments get back to basics.
The two men who fall out of shadow cabinet do so after being given a good run in the job and failing to fully capitalise on the opportunity by landing serious political blows on Labor.
For Mr Marshall, this reshuffle both risks putting those noses out of joint and asserts leadership.
Some thought he may baulk at the risk of rancour and dodge a reshuffle entirely.
Not so.
The obvious criticism is that the shadow cabinet, just like Labor’s frontbench, remains bloated at 14 members.
With each ministerial office costing the state $2 million a year to run, Mr Marshall missed a great chance to signal that cutting government waste would start at the top.