ALP leaves Mark Dreyfus and Ed Husic behind in ruthless factional deal post-Albanese landslide

A heated factional brawl has sparked a refresh of Anthony Albanese’s second-term ministry, demoting Labor’s most senior Jewish and Muslim MPs while boosting the Left’s representation.

Greg Brown and Sarah Ison

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

5 min read

9:03PMMay 08, 2025.

Updated 9:52PMMay 08, 2025

Two high-profile Labor ministers have been dumped to the backbench after one of the most heated factional brawls since the election of the Albanese government, with the refresh demoting the party’s most senior Jewish and Muslim MPs while increasing representation for women and the Left.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Industry Minister Ed Husic were forced out of the ministry, after ruthless negotiations from the Victorian Right saw allies of Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles promoted and the NSW Right weakened.

The axing of the two ministers on Thursday night sparked the anger of the NSW Right’s former prime minister Paul Keating, who lashed Anthony Albanese directly for allowing the Victorian Right to garner more power and for getting rid of such prominent Muslim and Jewish politicians from his cabinet.

“The Prime Minister has recently made notable ‘captain’s calls’ in a number of otherwise rules-based preselection ballots,” Mr Keating said.

“His nonintervention in respect of a NSW minister on this occasion is, in effect, an endorsement of a representative of another state group: in this case, the Victorian Right faction led by Richard Marles, a faction demonstrably devoid of creativity and capacity.”

Mr Keating said the move “was an appalling denial” of Mr Husic’s “diligence and application”.

“More than that, as the cabinet’s sole Muslim member, Husic’s expulsion from the ministry proffers contempt for the measured and centrist support provided by the broader Muslim community to the Labor Party at the general election. And to round out the day, the factional lightweights also dumped the cabinet’s most effective and significant Jewish member, the Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus.”

The new ministers will be Victorian Right MPs Sam Rae and Daniel Mulino, while the Left promoted former union bosses in NSW senator Tim Ayres and Victorian MP Jess Walsh.

The new parliament will mark the first time that a federal government will have 50 per cent of the ministry being female, with half of the ministry being from the Left as the once dominant Right faction loses its control of the party.

Ed Husic. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Albanese, a former warrior of the Left, has given his approval to the makeup of the 30-member ministry, with Labor MPs to rubber stamp the team at a caucus meeting on Friday.

The Prime Minister will allocate portfolios ahead of the new ministerial team being sworn in by Governor-General Sam Mostyn on Tuesday.

The Labor caucus having a majority of Left-faction MPs for the first time meant a minister from the Right had to go, leading to a fight between NSW and Victoria that was ultimately won by the latter. This forced out Muslim Mr Husic rather than another male NSW Right MP such as one of the frontbench trio of Jason Clare, Chris Bowen or Tony Burke, all of whom came under pressure to hold their western Sydney seats.

The Albanese government successfully retained all of its seats in Sydney’s west after facing a backlash from Muslim voters who did not think Labor was supportive enough of Palestine during the Israel-Hamas war.

A more surprising development, which was revealed by The Australian on Thursday, was the Victorian Right dumping Mr Dreyfus despite him being the government’s only Jewish minister.

Tony Burke arrives in Canberra ahead of a caucus meeting on Friday. Picture: Noah Yim

Jewish groups were highly critical of the Albanese government’s response to the war in Gaza and votes against Israel at the United Nations. The dropping of Mr Drefyus is likely to raise further concerns about Labor’s stance on the Middle East and commitment to stamping out anti-Semitism.

Mr Dreyfus was among the strongest supporters of Israel in Labor’s caucus, representing the government in a visit to Israel in January in an attempt to fix growing tensions between the two nations.

He was also the government’s representative in Auschwitz as part of the 80th commemoration of the Holocaust.

The former barrister’s replacement is Mr Rae, a second-term MP who holds the seat of Hawke and a former Victorian state secretary. He is supported by the Transport Workers’ Union and a close factional ally of Mr Marles.

Mr Rae – who worked in hospitality and childcare before landing a position in former Labor minister Stephen Conroy’s office in 2011 – was also a former partner at PwC.

Mr Dreyfus is part of the Australian Workers’ Union grouping that was once led by Mr Albanese’s longtime rival Bill Shorten.

While the AWU grouping was overrepresented in the Victorian Right ministry, some Labor figures believe Mr Marles was promoting allies to strengthen his support in caucus as part of his eventual aim to succeed Mr Albanese as Prime Minister.

One Labor figure described the decision to dump Mr Dreyfus as “nuts”, arguing it would enhance the perception that ministers had little private sector experience and the government was dominated by former union and party officials.

While Mr Dreyfus is respected as an intelligent legal expert, there is a broad view within Labor the 68-year-old did not have a good political antenna.

He was also accused by Jewish groups of not doing enough to support Israel and continuing to preference the Greens.

Dr Mulino, an economist who is tipped for the assistant treasurer portfolio, filled the Victorian Right spot vacated by the retirement of Mr Shorten, with the Fraser MP’s backing from right-wing heavyweight Don Farrell securing his promotion.

The battle between the NSW Right and the Victorian Right began within 24 hours of the election, when it became apparent a consequence of Mr Albanese’s thumping win was that the Left would have a majority of MPs in caucus. There were two ministerial vacancies at the election, one from the retirement of NSW Left minister Stephen Jones and another from the Victorian Right’s Mr Shorten. The caucus numbers meant both these vacancies would need to be filled by the Left, ending the Right’s majority on the frontbench.

The Victorian Right argued its numbers in caucus meant an MP from the faction could still be elevated, declaring NSW needed to go down from six ministers to five.

NSW, meanwhile, argued that the Left should take Mr Shorten’s vacancy and no ministers should be dumped, despite widespread claims its 21 MPs in parliament did not justify the number of ministries it held. Under normal circumstances the most junior NSW Right minister, Kristy McBain, would have been vulnerable, but the need to bring the ministry to 50 per cent women put Mr Husic in the firing line.

Both NSW and Victoria were refusing to budge from their positions until it came to a head at closed-door meetings in Canberra on Thursday, with Senator Farrell and Mr Albanese waving through a haircut for the nation’s most populous state.

Under Labor’s conventions, the ministry is proportionate to the number of MPs in each faction and state.

It is the second time in the past three parliamentary terms that Mr Husic has lost his frontbench position.

The dealings were more pleasant in the ascendant Left, despite West Australian senator Patrick Gorman and new Tasmanian MP Rebecca White being overlooked.

Senator Ayres – one of Mr Albanese’s closest allies – was elected to parliament in 2019 after serving as NSW secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union.

Senator Ayres served as assistant trade minister for the majority of the last parliamentary term, before being appointed as assistant minister for a Future Made in Australia in July last 2024.

Senator Walsh was also a former union leader, serving as the United Workers Union’s Victorian secretary before coming to parliament in 2019.