‘Assassins’ and ‘timidity’: ousted Ed Husic takes aim at Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles

Outgoing frontbencher Ed Husic has also suggested he believed his support for Palestine and criticisms of Israel were one of the reasons he lost his spot in the second-term Albanese cabinet.

Ed Husic. Picture: Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese should have intervened to save two dumped cabinet ministers, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is a “factional assassin”, and Labor has been shackled by “timidity”, outgoing frontbencher Ed Husic has claimed in an extraordinary attack.

Mr Husic has also suggested he believed his support for Palestine and criticisms of Israel were one of the reasons he lost his spot in the second-term Albanese cabinet.

When asked on the ABC if the Prime Minister had thanked him for his service after losing his job in a factional deal, Mr Husic would only say: “brief call, brief call.”

The outgoing Industry Minister was axed from the ministry by Labor’s factions last week as a result of moves by Mr Marles and the Victorian Right to take a frontbench place from the NSW Right.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles. Picture: Martin Ollman

Mr Husic on Sunday morning said he felt for ordinary Labor Party members who had to watch the party go from its greatest victory since the Second World War to “the lows of factional grubbiness”.

“The difficult issue here is that we’ve had bare faced ambition and a Deputy Prime Minister wield a factional club to reshape the ministry. I think people when they look at a Deputy Prime Minister, they expect to see a statesman, not a factional assassin,” he told the ABC.

“There will be a lot of questions put to Richard about his role and that’s something that he will have to answer and account for.”

Anthony Albanese with Ed Husic (at rear). Picture: Philip Gostelow

Mr Husic questioned why Mr Albanese did not use the authority of his landslide win to overrule Mr Marles and keep both him and outgoing Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in cabinet.

“The PM had great authority coming out of the election. I think if he’d exercised it in a way that provided for stability and a strong team, that had been there and could go forward, no one would have quibbled about that,” Mr Husic said.

Asked if he meant Mr Albanese should have saved him, the outgoing minister responded: “Of course.”

“We did speak yesterday. He rang me yesterday. We’re catching up Monday. I look forward to that being a constructive discussion that talks about the role that I can keep playing and being able to speak up on the things I think are important and that I care about and represent people in the community,” he said.

Asked if they talked about his future or if he received any thanks for three years in the ministry, Mr Husic repeatedly refused to say.

“It was a very quick call. No doubt we will chat about things on Monday,” Mr Husic said.

Mr Husic (left) and Mr Marles last year. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay

The outgoing Industry Minister – the first Muslim Australian to sit in a federal cabinet – has been Labor’s most virulent critic of Israel and its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked if his repeated interventions against Israel during the war against Hamas had played any role in his removal, Mr Husic said it played a role.

“I think it’s been a factor in there. Would I do things differently? I don’t think so,” he said.

“I don’t think I could ever stay silent in the face of innocent civilians slaughtered in tens of thousands, starved out of Gaza.”

Mr Husic also took a swipe at the economic agenda of the Albanese government’s first term, accusing it of “timidity”, after last year pushing Jim Chalmers to consider a company tax cut.

“More than anything, we need to burn through the timidity that shackled us. We need to make big changes in a world changing fast to ensure the country stands on its own two feet, very important. There should be a number of things considered.”