Linda Burney expected to quit amid speculation about a successor

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney would ‘surprise’ several colleagues if she stayed in parliament for another term, with Labor sources believing she will soon make her exit from politics.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney would “surprise” several colleagues if she stayed in parliament for another term, as senior Labor sources revealed the “general sense” was the senior Left-faction MP would soon make her departure from politics. 

Many Indigenous leaders have privately voiced their support for ­Malarndirri McCarthy to replace Ms Burney in the portfolio, and for backbencher and fellow Northern Territory MP Marion Scrymgour to become the assistant ­minister.

Anthony Albanese indicated earlier this year that a reshuffle would come after the election “or perhaps even before”, as speculation persisted regarding the ­future of ­ministers, including Brendan O’Connor, Clare O’Neil and ­Andrew Giles.

Mr O’Connor has been in ­federal parliament for more than two decades, and many Labor sources suggested they expected him to retire soon.

Unlike Ms Burney and Mr O’Connor, Mr Giles is not expected to leave parliament, but rather be shifted from his role as ­Immigration Minister following numerous incidents, including the NZYQ saga.

When asked if he expected to be moved on, Mr Giles said he was “very happy” to stay in his role.

“I am very happy doing the work I am doing, but of course any reshuffle is a matter for the Prime Minister and I won’t comment on

any of his decisions in that regard,” Mr Giles said in Melbourne on Wednesday.

One senior NSW Labor source said many people in Ms Burney’s southern Sydney seat of Barton expected her to announce her ­retirement, but that the timing would be up to what was best for the Prime Minister.

“She’s definitely going. There’s a general sense that will be the case,” said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

“The timing of it though will be heavily dictated by the Prime Minister for maximum factional advantage. I imagine he will wait until the last moment.”

A number of Labor MPs said they would be “surprised” if Ms Burney was in parliament much longer, given her career in state and federal politics spanned more than 20 years.

However, another NSW Labor source said Ms Burney had been more active in her electorate ­during the past four to five months than she had been for some time.

“We’ve seen more from Linda at train stations and street stalls and community events … than we have for years,” they said.

“You don’t do that if you’re about to announce you’re out.”

Ms Burney – who won Barton with a two-party-preferred margin of more than 15.5 per cent at the 2022 election, after receiving just over 50 per cent of the primary vote – had maintained for months that she was “completely committed to the job”.

Along with Senator McCarthy and Ms Scrymgour being considered frontrunners for a promotion, another name floated by colleagues as an attractive option for the Indigenous affairs portfolio was Jenny McAllister.

However, Indigenous leaders told The Australian that two Indigenous women from the ­Northern Territory would be most effective in combating the threat of opposition ­Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

Potential replacements for Mr O’Connor include Ged Kearney and Pat Gorman, while the vacation of their assistant ministerial roles would leave room for backbenchers such as Julian Hill and Josh Wilson to step in.

While there have been reports of a reshuffle as early as this weekend, several senior Labor MPs said the timing “didn’t make much sense” and noted that there were still several weeks before parliament resumed for Mr Albanese to reconvene caucus.

Despite eagerness from some MPs to receive promotions, many sources said they did not see the need for a major reshuffle, and instead called for the focus to be kept off internal politics and on the cost of ­living ahead of the next  election.

An election must be held by May next year, and in recent weeks questions have been raised over whether or not Mr Albanese would call Australians to the polls early, before more bad news in the economy, including another ­potential Reserve Bank rate hike.