New Opposition Leader Jess Wilson appoints herself shadow treasurer
Jess Wilson will appoint herself shadow treasurer in the Coalition’s latest reshuffle and take control of the Victorian opposition’s economic agenda by kicking senior MP Richard Riordan out of shadow cabinet.
While former opposition leader John Pesutto was once again overlooked for the shadow ministry, key supporters of the new leader were rewarded; Among them was Sandringham MP Brad Rowswell, who received the education and industrial relations portfolios, which he will keep alongside government services.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson with her leadership team (left to right), Bev McArthur, Sam Groth and Evan Mulholland.Credit: Jason South
While unusual in Victoria in recent years, Wilson joins a long line of state party leaders who have combined leadership and treasury roles.
Former Western Australian premier Mark McGowan, former Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein and former ACT premier Andrew Barr have held both roles simultaneously while in office. In Victoria, John Cain Jr and Joan Kirner served as party leader and treasurer in the 1980s and 1990s respectively.
The opposition front lines were only reshuffled seven weeks ago by then-leader Brad Battin, who stripped Brighton MP James Newbury of his valuable treasury portfolio to make room for Wilson. The move was widely viewed among Liberals as a turning point in Battin’s leadership already beginning to be eroded by internal division, paving the way for Wilson’s ascension this month.
Newbury will remain shadow attorney general and will also take on the anti-corruption portfolio.
James Newbury was removed from the treasury portfolio in October to make room for Wilson.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Bev McArthur, the upper house MP who was instrumental in securing Wilson’s leadership two weeks ago, will now hold two shadow portfolios – local government and small business – while also leading the opposition in the upper house.
Wilson’s new squad, announced on the same day as the opening of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel, does not include Riordan, who previously held high-profile tourism and housing portfolios. He was seen as one of the opposition’s strongest policy enforcers.
