Jane Hume, Tim Wilson to head up economic team; James Paterson set to move to defence porfolio
Updated ,first published
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor resisted demands to punish Moderates who supported Sussan Ley, revealing a front designed to revive the party’s economic reputation and encouraging right-wingers such as Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to oppose One Nation.
Deputy leader Jane Hume moves into the productivity and industrial relations portfolio, while another Mid-Victorian, Tim Wilson, will become shadow treasurer and is already rejecting proposals to roll back capital gains tax cuts on housing, an idea he previously explored in a 2020 book.
“Jim [Chalmers] “Wilson is pushing for a new housing tax, and I’m interested in how to lower the income tax,” he said.
Wilson, Hume and senator Claire Chandler, a younger MP who will take over the finance portfolio, stood alongside Taylor at a news conference in Sydney on Tuesday, signaling the new leader’s intention to restore the party’s financial reputation after months of infighting and paralysis.
“Today marks a new beginning, an opportunity to leave the past behind us and remember that our historic strength comes from unity,” Taylor said as he lifted the Nationals’ suspension from the front row imposed by Ley.
Late Monday, Taylor was facing what sources described as “huge” pressure to go further in punishing the Moderates.
Small-major Liberal MPs were largely positive about Tuesday’s announcement.
Wilson, a potential leadership rival to Taylor, received the plum treasury portfolio.
Although right-wing faction supporters wanted them gone, faction leader Anne Ruston retained her health portfolio, as did education spokesman Julian Leeser.
Andrew Bragg added the environment to his housing job, and NSW senator and key Ley ally Maria Kovacic retained her roles on women and multicultural affairs.
The only moderate relegated directly to the backbench was former immigration spokesman Paul Scarr. The rest of those dumped – Alex Hawke, Scott Buchholz, Andrew Wallace, Melissa Price and Jason Wood – were neutral MPs who were promoted after backing Ley as leader last year.
The demotion of fellow Moderates Kerrynne Liddle and Angie Bell to the foreign secretary position means the overall composition of the front line is more right-wing. Among those moving up were half a dozen Taylor supporters, including Hastie, Price, Chandler, Sarah Henderson (communications), Phil Thompson (defence industry) and Hume.
MPs who had previously supported Ley and switched to Taylor, including McGrath, Sharma, Liddle and others, received no apparent reward.
“This was really about getting the best team on the field. We’re way behind the winner-takes-all approach,” one MP said of Taylor’s decision-making process.
Deputy leader Ted O’Brien, who backed Ley and lost his position last week, was given the prestigious foreign affairs portfolio, while right-wing powerbroker James Paterson was shifted from finance to defence.
Labor has spent the past week running past Taylor and Hume, shedding light on the duo’s failed economic policies in the last election and Hume’s involvement in the furore over “Chinese spies” and his unpopular work-from-home policy.
Hume said on Tuesday: “They’re already starting to go for the man instead of the ball. It’s just fear, because you know when Labor gets involved you can smell their fear.”
Seeking to stem the loss of support for One Nation, Taylor brought Hastie (industry and sovereign capacity) and Price (small business, skills and education) back into the shadow cabinet after falling out with Ley last year, in part over their contentious positions on immigration and race.
Price’s misleading remarks about Indian immigrants voting Labor last year forced Ley to sack him and came back to haunt Taylor on Tuesday. This week Price said he had nothing to apologize for. Taylor deflected questions about his stance, describing him as “an extraordinary Australian and an extraordinary human being”.
In his new industry role, Hastie will be able to pursue the agenda of revitalizing domestic production; This could complicate Taylor’s small government message if the West Australian MP continues to call for subsidies for Australian manufacturing.
Wilson, the energetic new leader of the coalition’s economic team, was seen as the top choice for the role of shadow treasurer, given his campaign against Labor’s budget loans policy in 2019 and his victory over teal MP Zoe Daniel last year.
Many right-wing critics of Ley have taken jobs in the foreign ministry or shadow assistant ranks and will now be subject to front-line disciplinary rules. These included the government’s new waste minister, Tony Pasin, and shadow aides Ben Small, Henry Pike and Garth Hamilton. Other younger members of the Right, including Cameron Caldwell and Simon Kennedy, also took up shadow assistant positions; Kennedy was also Taylor’s assistant. Aaron Violi became the new minister responsible for digital economy, science, technology and cybersecurity.
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Paul Sakkal is the chief political correspondent. It has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect with: X or email.
