Turnbull’s right-hand-woman, Sally Cray, emerges from the shadows

Malcolm Turnbull’s principal private secretary, Sally Cray, may be powerful but few Australians could pick her in a line-up.

Sally Cray and Malcolm Turnbull in Germany in July 2017. Picture: Kym Smith.

Malcolm Turnbull’s principal private secretary, Sally Cray, may be one of the most powerful women in the country but few Australians could pick her in a line-up.

The Prime Minister’s right-hand-woman has been thrown into the Barnaby Joyce scandal after it was revealed Mr Turnbull’s ­office, which she runs, signed off on Vikki Campion’s movements across three offices.

Ms Cray’s name was splashed across tabloid news­papers yesterday after a text message exchange with former Tony Windsor staff member John Clements was leaked. The exchange involved historic accusations against Mr Joyce, which he has denied, that he pinched a woman’s bottom in 2011.

Ms Cray is said to be one of Mr Turnbull’s most trusted advisers, arguably wielding great power while avoiding the limelight.

Tony Abbott’s former chief of staff Peta Credlin and Ms Cray are understood to have clashed when they worked together in Mr Turnbull’s office in opposition, with tensions increasing during Mr ­Abbott’s prime ministership as the leadership rivalry between their bosses intensified.

Having grown up in the Gippsland town of Traralgon and studied arts/law at Deakin University, Ms Cray gained her first taste of politics doing work experience with local Liberal backbencher Russell Broadbent at the age of 16, before working for the City of London after finishing university. She returned to Mr Broadbent’s office in 2006 before working for Mr Turnbull from 2007 to 2011, when she took a job as head of the ABC’s corporate affairs team.

Ms Cray returned to the ­office of then communications minister Turnbull in 2013, becoming indispensable as he rolled Mr ­Abbott for the prime ministership in 2015.