Conservative Liberals the big winners in Turnbull’s reshuffle

Rising conservative stars have emerged as the big winners in Malcolm Turnbull’s cabinet reshuffle.

Christian Porter will replace George Brandis as attorney-general. Picture: Kym Smith

Rising conservative stars Christian Porter and Dan Tehan have emerged as the big winners in Malcolm Turnbull’s cabinet reshuffle, as the Prime Minister moves to renew his frontbench.

Mr Turnbull is expected to announce today the make-up of his new ministry, which will leave the majority of his senior leadership team unchanged.

The Australian has confirmed that Mr Tehan, a regional Victorian MP who is currently Veterans Affairs Minister, will be elevated into cabinet following demands from country Liberal MPs for representation at the cabinet table. Mr Porter, the Social Services Minister from Western Australia who has been lauded for his work on welfare reforms, has been confirmed as the replacement for Attorney-General George Brandis who will retire and replace Alexander Downer as the High Commissioner in London. Mr Porter’s promotion opens the possibility that Mr Tehan will take over the critical role of social services minister.

The Australian also understands that cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos, who stepped down due to ill health, will not return to cabinet, leaving another vacancy.

Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce will, as revealed by The Australian, take over the critical transport and infrastructure portfolios from Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester in an attempt to boost the government’s stocks in regional Australia.

There was speculation last night that Mr Chester would be dumped from cabinet by Mr Joyce to make way for another Nationals MP, with the junior Coalition partner set to retain its quota of five cabinet positions. This would leave Mr Joyce, who has ultimate say over which Nationals MPs go into cabinet, to try to resolve demands by the Queensland Nationals for greater representation.

NSW senator Marise Payne will keep the defence portfolio, ­despite speculation she would seek appointment as the Australian ambassador to NATO and suggestions that she had not performed well in defence.

Treasury, health, education, and foreign affairs will all remain unchanged. Speculation that sacked former ministers Stuart Robert and Sussan Ley would be returned, were last night dismissed by senior government sources.

It has also been speculated that NSW conservative MP Angus Taylor will take the second cabinet vacancy left by Mr Sinodinos, ­although this had not been confirmed last night.

In a reshuffle that will avert major ructions at the same time as promoting new talent, the Prime Minister is believed to be promoting Queensland LNP MP John McVeigh, who served as agriculture minister in the state government of Campbell Newman from 2012-15, into the ministry.

The shake-up of ministers under new Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is believed to include a security minister and an immigration minister. Justice Minister Michael Keenan, another name being speculated on for a promotion into cabinet, would otherwise be a candidate to take on the security role.

Bridget McKenzie, the new deputy leader of the Nationals whose predecessor Fiona Nash was forced from parliament over dual citizenship, goes straight into cabinet and is tipped to take Mr Joyce’s portfolios of agriculture and water, despite never having held a ministerial portfolio.

A senior government source said there would be no “purge of cabinet” but the changes would not be insignificant, with new portfolios expected to be named. A senior Liberal MP said Mr Turnbull needed the reshuffle to “reset”.

Queensland LNP sources were warning last night that Mr Turnbull faced triggering a fresh round of hostilities with the LNP if he failed to elevate Queenslanders in his reshuffle, amid bitter feelings the state had been overlooked in previous frontbench shake-ups.

The departure of Senator Brandis is set to reduce Queensland representation in cabinet to just three MPs: Mr Dutton, Trade Minister Steven Ciobo and ­Resources Minister Matt Canavan. There are 26 Queenslanders, including Senator Brandis, represented on the government benches across both houses, with 21 in the lower house and five in the Senate.

LNP sources said the Prime Minister needed to work on ­refining his political message in Queensland, given the poor state election result, the defection of conservative voters to alternative parties such as One Nation and the possibility of a by-election in the marginal seat of Longman held by Labor MP Susan Lamb.

Ms Lamb, who holds Longman by a margin of 0.8 per cent, could be referred to the High Court in the new year over concerns she may have been a British citizen when she was elected, in breach of section 44 of the Constitution.