EXCLUSIVE

Cabinet Minister Kelly O'Dwyer is set to lose her chief of staff just two months after appointing him with Liberal party machine man Julian Sheezel emerging as a surprise contestant in the race for the Victorian Senate number one spot.

Small Business Minister Kelly O'Dwyer has introduced legislation to make crowd-sourced equity funding possible in Australia. Credit:Ben Rushton

The revelation came amid concerns from several stakeholders who told Fairfax Media Ms O'Dwyer's office appeared dysfunctional. But this was rejected by sources within Ms O'Dwyer's office who said she was dealing with a couple of hundred stakeholders more than most portfolios and simply taking a different approach to her predecessor.

Mr Sheezel has taken an unpaid leave of absence, abandoning the Assistant Treasurer, also a new mother and newly promoted cabinet minister, five months from her first budget and heading into an election year.