Marles edging O’Neil in contest for deputy’s post
Labor frontbenchers Richard Marles and Clare O’Neil are set to battle it out to become Anthony Albanese’s deputy.
Labor frontbenchers Richard Marles and Clare O’Neil are set to battle it out to become Anthony Albanese’s deputy, after finance spokesman Jim Chalmers pulled out of the race.
Victorian Right MPs met yesterday as Mr Marles, the opposition defence spokesman, and Ms O’Neil, Labor’s justice spokeswoman — both members of the faction — mulled over bids to become deputy leader. Mr Marles is still considered the frontrunner.
The Weekend Australian understands Dr Chalmers told colleagues he was not interested in the deputy’s position, despite support for him to run.
There are growing expectations that Dr Chalmers will replace Chris Bowen as Treasury spokesman, giving him an elevated role and allowing a Queenslander to reset the party’s economic agenda. He declined to comment yesterday.
Labor MPs will not meet until after Monday, when nominations for the leadership close. The caucus will then decide who the party’s deputy will be.
Labor industry spokesman Kim Carr announced yesterday he would not renominate to serve on the opposition frontbench.
“I have spoken to Anthony Albanese and told him that I wish him well and the new leadership team every success,” Senator Carr said.
“I intend to continue to serve in the Senate … The new Labor team has my full support and I look forward to serving in any capacity in which my experience and abilities can advance the cause of the labour movement.”
Senator Carr, from Labor’s Left faction, has been on the frontbench for more than 20 years. For decades, he has been one of Victorian Labor’s leading warlords, along with former senator Stephen Conroy, from the Right, but factional realignments have seen him isolated in recent years. He resisted a previous attempt to force him off the frontbench in 2016.
The opposition’s immigration spokesman, Shayne Neumann, is also struggling to stay on the Labor frontbench as the NSW Right angles for an extra seat for Kristina Keneally.
Under the faction quota system, the post-election parliamentary numbers have left the NSW Right seeking six frontbench positions and the Queensland Right is only guaranteed to have Dr Chalmers.
The Weekend Australian understands Mr Neumann would be the one to lose out if Senator Keneally takes a sixth NSW Right spot.
Labor sources said losing Mr Neumann, the only regional Queensland MP on the frontbench, would be a backwards step for a party desperate to win back support in north and central Queensland.
“Queensland is the state that delivers government for Labor. When Labor doesn’t listen to Queenslanders, we fall short,” Mr Neumann said yesterday. “Unless Labor does better in Queensland, we will not form government.”
Labor MP Patrick Gorman has also called for more West Australians to be included in shadow cabinet, after Labor’s disappointing campaign in the state where it failed to pick up a seat.
“If we are going to be serious about forming government, we need to look like we are taking WA seriously,” Mr Gorman said. “We are coming from further behind (than Queensland).”
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