Anthony Albanese sacrifices Mark Butler as Tanya Plibersek pushes her own vision

Anthony Albanese will move Mark Butler from the climate change and energy portfolio as Tanya Plibersek lays down her vision.

Tanya Plibersek in Balmain, Sydney, on Wednesday has been mooted as a potential Labor leader. Picture: Adam Yip

Anthony Albanese has defended his upcoming shadow cabinet reshuffle which aims to repair internal divisions between Labor’s industrial and environmental wings, vowing that the party is still committed to “strong action” on climate change.

Mr Albanese will move Mark Butler from the contentious climate change and energy portfolio in the reshuffle.

Senior sources have told The Australian that Mr Butler, the architect of Labor’s uncosted 45 per cent emissions reduction target at the last election, will leave the portfolio he has held since 2013 as the ALP moves to repair the divisions between its industrial and environmental wings.

Mr Albanese also appeared to confirm speculation that the climate and energy role would be given to current health spokesman Chris Bowen, from the NSW Right who served as Treasury spokesman under Bill Shorten.

“I regard it as an economic portfolio and therefore someone who has been the Treasurer of Australia is eminently qualified to fill that role,” the Opposition Leader said.

Mr Albanese has dismissed the idea that the reshuffle will dilute the party’s climate policies and said he remained committed to “strong action” on climate change.”

Speculation was growing within caucus on Wednesday night that the climate and energy role would be given to current health spokesman Chris Bowen, from the NSW Right. Under Mr Shorter, Mr Bowen was charged with selling the party’s contentious franking credits and negative gearing policies.

Mr Butler will replace Mr Bowen in the health portfolio, while deputy Labor leader Richard Marles is expected to shift from defence into a domestic portfolio focusing on the COVID-19 recovery.

There is speculation in caucus is that Mr Marles’ new role will include the industry and science portfolios, with talk Brendan O’Connor has been offered defence.

There is also chatter that Mr Marles will take over the vocation and skills portfolios from Tanya Plibersek, who will remain in education.

Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon said the move would help the party refocus on its traditional base.

Mr Fitzgibbon said the dumping of Mr Butler would ensure the party had policies that did not threaten the livelihoods of those it was “born to represent.”

“It will send the right message to our traditional base,” he told the ABC on Thursday.

“I think Mark has been somewhat over-enthusiastic in his approach to climate change policy. I believe we should see climate change as not a political opportunity but a policy opportunity.”

Mr Fitzgibbon quit the shadow cabinet this week amid a year-long battle to shift Labor towards a smaller-target emissions reduction policy.

The reshuffle will be announced on the weekend. It comes as pressure grows on Mr Albanese’s leadership, with his predecessor, Mr Shorten, last weekend describing Labor’s policy agenda as “tiny” but maintaining support for the Opposition Leader.

Tanya Plibersek, who has been mooted as a potential replacement for Mr Albanese, today lays down her vision for how Labor should govern in a post-pandemic Australia. Writing in The Australian, Ms Plibersek urges her colleagues to recapture the legacy of wartime prime minister Ben Chifley and build a platform focused on full employment, high wages and dignity in retirement.

Ms Plibersek uses the example of Labor’s post-World War II leader to declare “today’s leaders should aim higher as we rebuild after the pandemic”.

She also wades into the party’s vexed energy debate by proposing an expansion of the renewable energy sector to lower power bills, reduce pollution and create manufacturing jobs.

She writes that Labor should present itself as a party of “secure jobs, decent pay, a comfortable retirement and a strong safety net”.

Mr Butler — a key Left faction backer of Mr Albanese — had been criticised by the CFMEU and the Australian Workers Union for his rhetoric on climate, while Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon had called for him to be shifted from the portfolio.

When contacted by The Australian, Mr Butler said it was “the job of every frontbencher to serve in the portfolio allocated by their leader”. “That’s always been my position under the four leaders I’ve had the privilege of serving under — Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese,” he said.

Labor MP Mark Butler and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: Sean Davey

Labor MPs will eye the performance of Mr Albanese ahead of the first sitting week of the year, starting next Tuesday, amid concern the party is on track to lose seats at the upcoming election.

Mr Albanese on Wednesday night dismissed suggestions his leadership was under threat, suggested 2020 was a difficult year for all opposition parties and maintained he was in a competitive position to the win an election.

“But when you look at the position we’re in going into what may well be an election year at the end of the year, in terms of all the polling, we’re very competitive,” Mr Albanese told the ABC’s 7.30. “Most importantly, we’ll focus on the people who we need to vote for us rather than focus on ourselves.”

Ms Plibersek said Chifley succeeded in creating a new era of prosperity after the sacrifices of war left Australia “an exhausted country”.

“Ben Chifley … believed that Australians had earned a better deal through their sacrifice. Having won the war, it was now equally important to ‘win the peace … for the greater happiness and prosperity of all men, women and children’,” Ms Plibersek writes.

“Just as Ben Chifley promised full employment and a family home, today’s leaders should aim higher as we rebuild after the pandemic: full employment, decent wages, job security, dignity in retirement, a strong safety net; a better quality of life for all Australians. We can expand cheaper, cleaner renewable energy to bring down power bills, boost Australian manufacturing jobs, and reduce pollution. We could employ more Australians to care for the elderly in their homes.

“After sacrificing so much during the pandemic, Australians deserve better (than Scott Morrison). They deserve real leadership, not false promises. They deserve a leader who’s willing to take responsibility, not look around for someone to blame.”

The Opposition Leader has been under pressure since Mr Fitzgibbon quit the frontbench in November and warned the party was failing to win back blue-collar voters who deserted Mr Shorten at the last election.

Ms Plibersek is a likely alternative to Mr Albanese. Picture: Adam Yip

Labor sources believe Ms Plibersek or Mr Bowen are the most likely alternatives to the Labor leader if there is a change before the election, although most MPs are backing Mr Albanese to lead the party to the election despite reservations over his performance.

Other potential leaders are deputy leader Richard Marles and opposition Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers, while Mr Shorten is unlikely to throw his hat in the ring in the next leadership contest.

A Labor MP said there was concern over the party’s electoral vulnerability but most faction heavyweights were not yet at the stage of entertaining a change in leader.

The MP said the leadership issue would not come to a head unless more marginal seat holders were spooked at the prospect of losing their place in the House of Representatives. “In the end, all that matters is self-interest,” the MP said. Ms Plibersek writes today that Australia’s handling of COVID-19 last year “showed us it’s possible to achieve amazing things in difficult times”. “This time last year, it would have been impossible to imagine schools shifting overnight to online learning, or banks offering mortgage holidays, or hotels housing rough sleepers,” she writes.