Michael O’Brien to return to Matthew Guy’s frontbench in opposition reshuffle

Almost half a year after he lost the leadership of Victoria’s Liberals to Matthew Guy, Michael O’Brien will return to a senior position on the opposition frontbench as part of a Coalition reshuffle.

The member for Malvern, a 50-year-old former barrister who served as opposition leader from 2018 until September last year, will be shadow attorney-general in a revamped Liberal leadership team that was announced on Friday afternoon by Mr Guy.

Michael O’Brien after his defeat by Matthew Guy in September.Credit: Justin McManus

Liberal Party sources told The Age the reshuffle was designed to better align frontbenchers to their political or professional skills.

“It’s never been so important for me to give Victorians not just a contest but a change of government – that’s where we need to be to recover and to rebuild, to make our state number one again,” Mr Guy said.

Mr O’Brien’s political comeback suggests he has made peace with Mr Guy, whose supporters voiced consistent internal dissent during the Malvern MP’s leadership.

The Opposition Leader said Mr O’Brien was “one of the smartest performers in the Parliament”.

“To have him not on the frontbench is a big loss to the Coalition,” Mr Guy said.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has reshuffled his frontbench. Credit: Joe Armao

Mr O’Brien, who was supported by about one-third of Liberal MPs when he was toppled in September, was offered a job on Mr Guy’s frontbench soon after losing the leadership, but he declined.

“Equality before the law and the rule of law are fundamental principles too often ignored under the Andrews Labor government,” Mr O’Brien said on Friday.

“Victoria will never recover and rebuild whilst we suffer the worst criminal court backlogs in the nation. Too many victims are denied closure of the trauma they’ve endured. Too many accused are denied their day in court in a reasonable time.“

Victorian Nationals deputy leader Steph Ryan will add roads to her list of portfolios.Credit: Eddie Jim

Deputy Nationals leader Steph Ryan will add roads to her portfolio, while Louise Staley, manager of opposition business, will be solely responsible for government scrutiny.

Ms Staley won the seat of Ripon on a 0.7 per cent margin at the last state election. A redrawing of the electoral boundaries has made the western Victoria country seat a notionally Labor seat by a margin of 2.8 per cent.

Louise Staley has reduced her frontbench responsibilities, so she can concentrate on trying to hold the seat of Ripon.Credit: Penny Stephens

Ms Staley said she asked Mr Guy if she could reduce her number of portfolios, so she could also focus on retaining her seat in November.

“I have a challenging seat and a very challenging redistribution. This is a role I know I can prosecute effectively from Ripon or in the Parliament, and it uses my skills to the best advantage of our team,” Ms Staley said.

“This government deserves to lose office in November, and I am absolutely focused on playing my part towards getting there.”

Matthew Bach’s raft of portfolio responsibilities will be streamlined to transport infrastructure, child protection, youth justice and youth affairs. He will be replaced as shadow attorney-general by Mr O’Brien, while David Hodgett will pick up his portfolios of early childhood and higher education, training and skills.

James Newbury, who had seven shadow cabinet responsibilities, will now become the opposition spokesman for environment and climate change, bay protection and become the shadow special minister of state and equality.

Ryan Smith has lost the housing portfolio to Richard Riordan, but added finance to his responsibilities.

The Coalition has begun the year in campaign mode. It has held rally-style events and rolled out a series of slogans including “recover and rebuild”, “make Victoria number one again” and “no more lockdowns”.

Mr Guy and Mr O’Brien both struggled to gain political momentum during the pandemic, as incumbent governments across Australia experienced popularity rises. But Labor and Liberal party strategists and pollsters believe Mr Guy’s messaging – delivered in a repeated, disciplined manner – is resonating with some voters in the middle and outer suburbs.

Polling by Resolve Strategic Monitor published in The Age in January suggests Labor has a clear-election-winning advantage, and a Newspoll from November showed Labor with a 58-42 two-party preferred lead.

But internal party pollsters and strategists believe the true split could be closer to 55-45, and there is a consensus that the state opposition’s vote is being dragged down by the unpopularity of the Morrison government.

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