The ministerial reshuffle has understandably been analysed primarily through the prism of how Coalition woman have fared and how the new look line up will be received by women more generally.
The other important way of examining the changes is according to who fits into which roles. Are the new ministers well-matched to their portfolios, are they match-fit for what may well be an election year and are the changes likely to see adjustments in policy design in specific portfolios?
This is how reshuffles are usually looked at.
Peter Dutton took over as Leader of the House to solve a political problem for Scott Morrison, that was the motivation for the change. But Dutton is well-suited to the hard man role of Leader of the House, in the mould of Peter Reith during John Howard’s prime ministership. He’s also likely to emulate Reith’s combative partisan approach to his new defence portfolio.
The new status as Leader of the House will also see Dutton’s stocks as a Morrison alternative rise. To be sure, Josh Frydenberg remains the obvious heir apparent, but just as Reith used his Leader of the House status to be framed as an alternative to Peter Costello in the succession stakes during Howard’s time, Dutton will do the same when it comes to Frydenberg.
Karen Andrews is unquestionably the most formidable woman in Coalition ranks, and hence her promotion to Home Affairs Minister is well deserved. But as Andrews told ABC radio she neither sought out the role nor realised she was even being considered for it.
Andrews’ background in engineering and economics made her well suited to the industry, science and technology portfolio she previously held. She probably should have been considered for a robust portfolio in the commerce, trade or finance spheres, but Morrison didn’t want to conduct a ministry-wide shake-up so soon after the last one.
Andrews really only went into home affairs because Coalition MPs baulked at the idea of close Morrison ally and former Canberra flat mate Stuart Robert taking the role. Contrast Andrews’ disinterest in her new portfolio with Kristina Keneally, who has degrees in political science and religion, both highly relevant to the home affairs portfolio. As a former NSW Premier she also oversaw the nation’s largest police force.
It was one thing when she was muscling up against someone like Dutton who has an interest and background in such matters, but now Keneally clearly has the whip hand over her counterpart, in the all important portfolio area of national security.
Then there is Michaelia Cash to consider. Few would quibble with the fact that the PM had to move Christian Porter out of the Attorney-General role, and the unions would have cried blue murder had he been left in the industrial relations portfolio. But there were already whispers around the traps that Porter had too much on his plate managing both roles. Now that overloaded responsibility falls to Cash.
She has runs on the board in the IR space, and she was a senior associate lawyer before entering politics. But should Morrison have taken the opportunity to split the portfolios up?
As for Porter, while there will be people who think he should have been dumped from the ministry altogether, taking over Andrews’ old role of industry, science and technology is a serious gig to get. Lots of substantive issues, and plenty of money to manage. Morrison won’t want Porter to have a high profile for political reasons, but he did need one of his more competent ministers to take over the industry role after promoting Andrews.
Finally we see Melissa Price return to cabinet with responsibilities in the defence industry portfolio. She failed the politics of being a cabinet minister when previously promoted before subsequently being demoted. Gender might have played a role in her redemption, but that’s no bad thing, and not just optically for the Coalition. Price was a highly competent private sector businesswoman before moving into politics. In short, she knows how to manage complex issues. Getting a second chance to manage the politics of promotion should therefore be welcomed.
Peter van Onselen is a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia and Griffith University
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