Nationals reshuffle rewards Barnaby Joyce’s backers

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has announced Bridget McKenzie and Andrew Gee will be promoted to cabinet in a reshuffle that rewards his backers in returning to the leadership.

Darren Chester and Keith Pitt have been moved out of cabinet and Mark Coulton sent from the outer ministry to the backbench. All three backed Michael McCormack in last week’s leadership spill.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, flanked by David Littleproud and Bridget McKenzie, after winning the Nationals party room ballot to return to the leadership.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The reshuffle comes after the Nationals returned Mr Joyce to the party leadership last Monday, sending Mr McCormack to the backbench.

Mr Joyce said the moves on and off the backbench weren’t necessarily “a representation of the qualities” of different MPs on his team and tough decisions had to be made.

“That is the process of politics, and it’s now really an issue for how the new ministers go, how the ministers that keep their jobs continue on and also the aspiration of other people,” he said.

“When people come into a political party, they all have the field marshal baton and so they all want an opportunity to show their capacity to do a job.”

The Deputy Prime Minister has made a direct swap into the portfolios of his predecessor, with responsibility for infrastructure, transport and regional development.

“I’ll have my work cut out but the works is on the back of the great work that’s been done by so many other people in this portfolio in the past,” Mr Joyce said.

Mr Gee moves from the outer ministry to become Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel, replacing Mr Chester.

He’s the sixth minister in the veterans’ portfolio since the Coalition won government in 2013, taking over the role as a royal commission into defence and veteran suicide is about to begin.

Mr Joyce said the issue was “vastly more important than any minister” and he didn’t see the role as a “hot potato”.

“In Andrew Gee, a barrister, regional barrister, as the process of a royal commission goes forward, he is the person that has the capacity to go through all the nuances of what is required,” he said.

Senator McKenzie returns to cabinet 18 months after quitting over the sports rorts scandal to take on the regionalisation, regional education and regional communications portfolios, along with drought emergency management.

Mr Pitt keeps his portfolios of resources and water but moves to the outer ministry. The last time resources sat outside cabinet was in John Howard’s first ministry from 1996 to 1998. The seven ministers since, including Mr Joyce in 2017, have all sat in cabinet.

Labor’s resources spokeswoman Madeleine King said the change was a slap in the face and workers in the sector had been “sacrificed for Barnaby’s power trip”.

Despite the demotion, Mr Joyce said Mr Pitt had been exemplary in his advocacy for the sector and would “remain over this portfolio like a bad suit”.

“The resources’ industry still gets to ask questions at question time, it still is on the blue carpet,” he said on Sunday, five days after he told Parliament the Nationals would be “absolutely focused, laser-like” on coal mining jobs.

Similarly, he said Mr Chester had “absolute competency” and complimented him on his work in veterans’ affairs.

Mr Chester said in a statement it had been the greatest privilege of his working life to spend time with the defence and veteran community and represent their interests.

“The character values of always looking after your mates, and acting with dignity and respect in adversity, have set a standard which I hope to emulate,” he said.

The “biggest benefit of being sacked from cabinet for the second time” would be getting to spend more time with his wife Julie and children, but Mr Chester assured his constituents: “I love Gippsland, and I’m not going anywhere.”

David Gillespie is promoted to the Minister for Regional Health and Kevin Hogan will become the Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister and for local government.

Michelle Landry keeps her role as Assistant Minister for Children and Families.

Mr Joyce has said the Nationals won’t threaten supply and confidence but neither will the Coalition partner shy away from discussing its policy aspirations, even where those are at odds with the Liberals.

However, he won’t renew the written coalition agreement with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying it wasn’t needed because there was no need to prove to the Governor-General the Coalition had a parliamentary majority. Instead, the two leaders will have ongoing negotiations.

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