An education in mismanagement

An illustration by Peter Nicholson.

JULIA Gillard's new ministry reveals the depth of talent in the Labor Party and the unique challenge this ministry confronts in operating as an effective team.

The weekend ministry announcement had been a shambles. Nobody carried the title of education minister, nobody carried the title for competition policy and nobody the title for indigenous health, all of which were specific titles in the previous government. Each of these is supposed to be a priority. How could they be overlooked? How could the government fail to provide proper explanations when the list was initially released?

Parliamentary secretaries were listed not by their title but by their "home" department and nobody was listed to replace John Faulkner as vice-president of the Executive Council.

Why was the Prime Minister allowed to issue such a flawed weekend announcement of her new ministry? It reeked of unprofessionalism and haste.

After an outcry from Australia's universities, Senate leader Chris Evans spoke to Gillard on Monday night and got his title altered to include responsibility for tertiary education. No problem? Let's wait and see.

It had been assumed that lumping universities under the heading of "skills" would suffice. What does this reveal about a Labor government, elected in 2007 on a pledge to implement an Education Revolution, that it initially eliminated the title from the ministry?

Simon Marginson from the University of Melbourne nailed this point. "There's something missing in Canberra," he said. "There's an inability to fold universities into the national project in a constructive way. Judging by the fact neither side of politics took a meaningful policy on universities and research to the election, it is a bipartisan weakness."

Frankly, education seems a dog's breakfast, now split between Evans, Kim Carr and Peter Garrett, the first two with responsibility for undergraduate and postgraduate education respectively and Garrett promoted into a schools education and early childhood portfolio. Given the coming parliament is slated to revise the politically explosive school funding formula for government and private schools, Garrett faces a steep learning curve.

The omission of research from Carr's title in the initial ministry announcement was explained as an oversight. Similarly, the word education was added to Garrett's portfolio name before his swearing-in yesterday, another change in optics. But how much sense does it make to keep dissecting ministry responsibility for education? Gillard's experience in the education portfolio may compensate for this process but that remains to be proved.

Meanwhile, on Monday night, Health Minister Nicola Roxon went on ABC1's Lateline to explain that Warren Snowden, contrary to the weekend ministry statement, would also retain portfolio responsibility for indigenous health. You may have thought indigenous health a Labor priority yet it disappeared from the new ministry list titles. How could this have happened? Roxon covered the embarrassment as best she could. "It [indigenous health] was something that perhaps wasn't focused on as much," she said. "We've seen that. We've made this change. The Prime Minister has asked Warren and I have asked Warren to stay on in that role."

So Snowden in a strange twist is now Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Science and Personnel and Indigenous Health. Makes sense?

Beyond Gillard, much of the success of this ministry hinges on four key figures: Wayne Swan, Simon Crean, Kevin Rudd and Greg Combet. The economic policy and political burden now falls far more heavily than ever on Swan given Lindsay Tanner's departure, with Penny Wong, based in the Senate, moving into Tanner's old slot of Finance Minister. What sort of role will Wong play? Does she envisage herself as an economic reformer? Operating with a new Prime Minister and a new Finance Minister, Swan in his second term as Treasurer becomes more pivotal.

Craig Emerson has won a deserved promotion into cabinet as Trade Minister. One of his previous portfolio responsibilities was competition policy, which now disappears from the portfolio list. Why? This responsibility is vested in new parliamentary secretary David Bradbury.

Paul Keating, who once declared that "competition is a Labor word", would not be happy. But the rescue message was delivered yesterday by Swan's office: the Treasurer would have prime charge of competition policy in cabinet so it was being upgraded, not downgraded. Really? Given the doubts about Labor's commitment to competition, it is best to suspend judgment on this front.

Bill Shorten is the new Assistant Treasurer, a golden chance for him, an appointment made on merit.

Robert McClelland stays as Attorney General and also finishes with the post of vice-president of the Executive Council.

Crean is the new Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, in Gillard's words, "a dedicated department within my portfolio". Crean now sits close to Gillard, defending her prime ministership inside and outside the party. He becomes chief negotiator with the two rural MPs on whom Gillard's survival depends.

At the swearing-in Rudd, eyes to the front, sat next to Crean. The unconfirmed suspicion remains that Rudd was able to secure the Foreign Ministry only because of a deal finalised in the campaign when Gillard was at her weakest. At the time of Rudd's overthrow last June most of Gillard's backers dismissed as untenable any Rudd recall to the foreign ministry.

Now Labor must make this work. Gillard and Rudd must prove that a prime minister deposed by his own party can sufficiently bury the political hatchet to operate as a senior minister with the leader responsible for his destruction. Any sign of Gillard-Rudd troubles will be lethal.

Stephen Smith, who took the hit for the team, said at the weekend "you can never have a crack of light between a foreign minister and a prime minister". That was, Smith said, his own approach in the job when dealing with Rudd PM. This was a neat warning to Rudd, as Foreign Minister, about how to behave.

But let's get real: Rudd will want to be his own man and Gillard's management challenge will be immense.

As for Combet, he has the toughest job outside Gillard. This involves turning the climate change issue that virtually destroyed the Rudd prime ministership into a success for Gillard. With his economic realism and commitment to genuine action on climate change, there is no better minister for the task.