Plibersek, Bowen tipped for roles on Labor leader Bill Shorten's frontbench

Updated

Federal Labor MPs are meeting in Canberra to elect their deputy leader and select the new front bench.

Before Bill Shorten won Labor's leadership contest, he made it clear he would like Tanya Plibersek to take on the role of deputy and it is widely expected she will be elected unopposed.

Caucus will once again select the front bench and it is expected to be determined along factional lines.

Mr Shorten says he will allocate portfolios on Friday.

Chris Bowen is likely to be the shadow treasurer and Anthony Albanese, who contested the leadership, is also expected to be given a senior role.

"I believe he can help me further understand some of our members," he said.

It is understood Kevin Rudd and Bob Carr will not be given frontbench positions.

Speaking to the ABC's Radio National Breakfast program, Mr Shorten hit out at the Federal Government for only having one woman in Cabinet.

"I reject the assumption that merit is more located in the brains of men than women," he said.

"I can't believe that it's not possible to have a greater proportion of your Cabinet who are women.

"I'm looking forward to what the shadow ministry do and the shadow ministry elections."

Under Labor's new leadership rules, the power to pick the frontbench has been returned to the Caucus, but Labor MP Richard Marles expects Mr Shorten to have input.

"It's only appropriate that Bill makes his views in relation to that be known to various people in this process and I'm sure that there'll be a whole lot of discussion around it," he said.

"But ultimately this will be an election from the Caucus and people will want to vote knowing Bill's preference going forward."

It is believed former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr is not going to nominate for the frontbench, and many still expect him to quit Parliament.

Shorten says Labor will turn its back on personality politics

Mr Shorten won the Labor leadership contest after receiving 52 per cent of the combined vote of Caucus and rank-and-file members, who were getting a say in the party's leadership for the first time.

No Labor opposition leader has survived a full term since Kim Beazley (1998 to 2001), but Mr Shorten told the ABC the party had learned many lessons from the last election defeat.

"I am personally touched by the extent of support across the factions I received in the parliamentary vote... that was a strong vote of confidence from the people who know me best," he said.

"I recognise there are lessons to be learned by me specifically in terms of further engaging with our members, but I know a lot of the members, the members whose voted for me, the ones who didn't as well, and I know that if Anthony had been successful, the people who voted for me would have got on with that.

"Going forward in the Labor Party, you will see less discussion of personalities and who supports what personalities, and more of what are the ideas that make Labor relevant to the future of Australians."

Push for further ALP leadership reforms

Labor boosted satisfaction among its grassroots and attracted thousands of new members through the recent ballot process to choose a new leader.

But party activists have warned ALP bosses to give rank-and-file members a greater say in choosing leaders in the future.

ALP vote breakdown Bill Shorten Anthony Albanese Caucus votes 63.95% (55 votes) 36.05% (31 votes) ALP membership

(About 30k votes) 40.08% 59.92% Overall vote 52.02% 47.98%



Luke Whitington organised the 'Anthony Albanese for Labor Leader' Facebook page during the contest and wants Caucus completely removed from the process.

"Politics sometimes requires radical change. The Labor Party needs, in my view, radical democratisation," he said.

"There are lots and lots of people who share my view that it should be one member, one vote."

He heads a loose group in Labor pushing for rank-and-file votes not just for the federal party leader but all senior leadership roles, including those outside parliament.

He says it is not just about connecting party officials with Labor's grassroots.

"We need to have more votes more often because that helps prevent corruption," he said.

"If the party and the people who run the party don't embrace further reform then party members who've been energised by this process will again start to drop off and leave."

But ALP president Jenny McAlister appeared to rule out giving the rank-and-file vote greater weight in the process of choosing the party leader.

"I think the weighting of the two ballots is roughly correct," she said.

But with unions also pushing for a say in electing the Labor leader, Ms McAlister says the party's national conference is the right place to discuss further proposed changes to its rules.

"I'm really pleased to see our affiliates bringing forward proposals today about how they'd like to see the future," she added.

"There is a big conversation to have and I think it's too early to say which configuration of propositions is going to work best for us."

Whitlam, Keating, Hawke all invoked as new leader looks to reform

Mr Shorten says his leadership style will be about modernisation.

"I think the way that Gough Whitlam rebuilt Labor in the '60s to be a modern party, that policy of modernisation which spoke to all Australians, that's part of a style which I admire," he said.

"I like the way Bob Hawke and Paul Keating created a safety net and to create a prosperous Australia which is positive and outward-looking so they are some of the styles.

"I'm an optimist and I also believe that hard work and having good things to say about people rather than negative things in the long run pays off."

Governor-General offered to step down because daughter is married to Shorten

Yesterday Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed that Governor-General Quentin Bryce offered to resign in a statement released shortly after it was announced that Mr Shorten would be Opposition Leader.

Mr Shorten is married to Ms Bryce's daughter, Chloe.

Mr Abbott said he declined to accept the offer "due to the fact that [Quentin Bryce] will retire in March next year and that the Government commands the House of Representatives with a significant margin".

"I believe it is only fit and proper that she be permitted to conclude her term and be accorded the appropriate farewell that her exemplary service merits," he said.

Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, alp, australia

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