The Crean Team: Shadow Cabinet
The Age
Monday November 26, 2001
SIMON CREAN, 52 (Vic)
Leader of the Opposition
Entered parliament: 1990
Former occupation: Storeman and Packers Union secretary, ACTU president, Qantas board member.
The new shadow ministry abandons Kim Beazley's flat equality and returns to an 18-member inner cabinet with 12 outer shadows. It is adventurous, youthful and largely untested, but designed as a structure for government with portfolios that do not simply mirror the government line-up. With 12 new faces (four in his cabinet), Mr Crean has taken a risk but has got the front bench he demanded. Now the job ahead is to reform the party, manage the unions and recast his own image.
JENNY MACKLIN, 47, (Vic)
Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Employment, Education, Training and Science
Entered parliament: 1996
Former occupation: university researcher, political adviser.
Shifts from health to take the Knowledge Nation portfolio, combining employment with the super education and science ministry created by John Howard. Making the Knowledge Nation a vote-winner and its message easily understandable will be the key challenge. She will face the new cabinet minister Brendan Nelson and Tony Abbott, who plays it hard and can be expected to go after Ms Macklin in the same way he pursued Cheryl Kernot.
JOHN FAULKNER 47, (NSW)
Public Administration and Home Affairs
Senate Leader
Entered parliament: 1989
Former occupation: teaching children with disabilities, ALP official.
Keeps the public administration job of holding the government to account and picks up the home affairs portfolio, focused on domestic security issues, which Kim Beazley promised to create if he won the election. He has no direct minister to shadow, but will clash with Tony Abbott over the public service, Daryl Williams on security issues and Eric Abetz on electoral matters. His best work has been using Senate committee hearings to expose matters the government wanted to cover up.
BOB McMULLAN, 53, (ACT)
Treasury, Finance and Small Business
Entered parliament: 1988
Former occupation: ALP and union official.
Wins the plum job of shadow treasurer in an expanded super treasury portfolio that also includes finance and small business. The main job will be going head-to-head with Peter Costello, who is the government's best parliamentary performer and, despite GST implementation troubles, has seen the economy defy global gloom. Mr McMullan switches from Aboriginal affairs, which he picked up amid controversy when an unnamed Labor frontbencher said it was a job akin to being the toilet cleaner on the Titanic.
STEPHEN CONROY, 38, (Vic)
Finance, Small Business and Financial Services
Deputy Senate Leader
Entered parliament: 1996
Former occupation: Footscray councillor, Transport Workers Union official.
Steps into the big league and takes charge of the finance and small business portfolio that Mr Crean has elevated to cabinet status. Switches from faction heavyweight to Labor's Dr No, who will have to keep his big-spending ambitious colleagues in line. Will escape being banished with bean-counters by having the added role of small business, where he will step up Labor's pitch to steal some of the Coalition's constituency, and financial services, where he will continue his role of bank-bashing.
JULIA GILLARD, 40, (Vic)
Population and Immigration
Entered parliament: 1998
Former occupation: Partner at law firm Slater & Gordon, political adviser.
The big winner who jumps into the political hot seat of immigration and into Mr Crean's inner sanctum from the back bench. A surprise choice to shadow Liberal cult hero Philip Ruddock, the dominating issue for Ms Gillard will be border protection - not just managing the issue that Labor believes cost it the election, but the widely different views in the caucus.
STEPHEN SMITH, 45, (WA)
Health and Ageing
Entered parliament: 1993
Former occupation: solicitor, lecturer, political adviser.
A surprise choice for health, to take over this vital job from Jenny Macklin. Was a contender for the job of shadow treasurer and moves from communications. Will go head-to-head with the untested Kay Patterson who, despite her strong background on health and ageing issues, leaps into cabinet from her previous role as parliamentary secretary. The role will broaden Mr Smith and if he does well it will boost his aspirations as a future leadership contender.
CARMEN LAWRENCE, 53, (WA)
Reconciliation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Arts, Status of Women
Entered parliament: 1994
Former occupation: Melbourne University tutor, WA Premier.
Moves sideways, losing the revamped industry portfolio but remaining in cabinet. Mr Crean says reconciliation is a priority in value terms and part of Labor's compassion, but most of the hard policy work has been done. It will not satisfy the appetite of an intelligent woman who has successfully rebuilt her political career after the Marks royal commission and lately has been taking on union power in the ALP.
MARTIN FERGUSON, 47, (Vic)
Regional and Urban Development, Transport and Infrastructure
Entered parliament: 1996
Former occupation: Miscellaneous Workers Union secretary, ACTU president.
Keeps control of Simon Crean's pet issue of regional development but gives up population to Julia Gillard. Also retains transport, where he will resume his battle with John Anderson. A key powerbroker and confidant of Mr Crean, Martin Ferguson will have a much greater influence in the wider strategic direction of the ALP.
WAYNE SWAN, 47, (Qld).
Family and Community Services.
Manager of opposition business in the house.
Entered parliament: 1993.
Former occupation: lecturer, political adviser, ALP official.
Keeping his portfolio responsibilities, he will resume his battle with Amanda Vanstone and his pursuit of social security policy, which made him one of the few shadow ministers to score political points off the government. Takes on the added responsibility of managing Labor's affairs in parliament, which will pit him against Tony Abbott.
KEVIN RUDD, 44, (Qld).
Foreign affairs.
Entered parliament: 1998.
Former occupation: diplomat, top Queensland bureaucrat under Wayne Goss.
Another of the backbenchers to move into the inner sanctum, he wins the job he has frantically lobbied for, and takes over from Laurie Brereton, with whom he clashed over policy. His strong knowledge of foreign affairs and range of contacts mean he comes to the contest against Alexander Downer well armed, but remains untested in the cut and thrust of the political spotlight.
CHRIS EVANS, 43, (WA).
Defence.
Entered parliament: 1993.
Former occupation: fire brigade union secretary.
A big step up from his previous job as aged-care spokesman, where he pounded Bronwyn Bishop over the management of nursing homes. A new challenge for the quiet achiever from the Senate, who will find Robert Hill, although new to defence, far tougher to shadow.
STEPHEN MARTIN, 53, (NSW).
Trade and tourism.
Entered parliament: 1984.
Former occupation: teacher, university lecturer, town planner, local councillor.
Loses the job of defence but stays in the shadow cabinet with the position of trade and tourism, which will see him against Mark Vaile and Joe Hockey. The fact that he is from NSW has helped the former Speaker to remain in the shadow cabinet.
LINDSAY TANNER, 45, (Vic).
Communications.
Entered parliament: 1993.
Former occupation: solicitor, clerk, state secretary of Federated Clerks Union.
Shifts from finance to communications, where he will shadow Richard Alston. Can expect early attacks from the government over his previous suggestion that Telstra's non-core business, such as mobile telephones, could be fully privatised but key services be wholly government owned. He is now fully behind Labor's stand that not one extra Telstra share should be sold or the company broken up.
ROBERT McCLELLAND, 43, (NSW).
Attorney-General.
Workplace relations.
Entered parliament: 1996.
Former occupation: law firm partner, solicitor.
Keeps the job of shadow attorney-general but takes on the completely separate portfolio of workplace relations. One of the few members of the front bench with a non-union background, he will face an assault by Tony Abbott and John Howard, who want to push through new laws to exempt small business from unfair-dismissal claims to test whether Simon Crean is beholden to the unions.
CRAIG EMERSON, 47, (Qld).
Innovation, industry, trade and tourism.
Entered parliament: 1998.
Former occupation: Queensland chief of environment department, political adviser, United Nations economic analyst.
Another to jump from the back bench to the inner cabinet, the ambitious former Hawke adviser wins control of a super portfolio created by Simon Crean. It has aspects of three different government departments, and while he has a long career behind the scenes in politics and running a department, the scarce resources of the opposition will be a big test.
KELVIN THOMSON, 46, (Vic).
Environment and heritage.
Entered parliament: 1996.
Former occupation: public servant, Australia Post officer, Victorian MLA.
A well-deserved promotion for one of Labor's hardest-working frontbenchers. The rise from shadow assistant treasurer will see him go head to head with David Kemp, also new to the environment portfolio. One of the biggest tasks will be to deal with the strong vote won by the Greens at the expense of Labor in the election. He says he wants to return the environment to a mainstream position and rescue it from the cul-de-sac to which it has been lured by fringe groups.KERRY O'BRIEN, 50, (Tas).
Primary industries and resources.
Entered parliament: 1996.
Former occupation: Miscellaneous Workers Union official.
The fourth from the back bench to take the big jump forward, he has been rewarded for his hard work on Senate estimates committees, particularly in this area. Low-profile, he will go head to head with two Queenslanders, Warren Truss and Ian Macfarlane.
© 2001 The Age