news The Federal Labor Party has left two of its most qualified and experienced candidates for the post of Shadow Communications Minister off the front bench representing its Shadow Cabinet team, as speculation firms that former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy may return to the portfolio in Opposition.
The way that Labor elects its front bench, and hence its ministers, differs from the way the Coalition undertakes the process. Yesterday, after consultation with the various factions inside the Labor Party and with reference to internal ballots, new Opposition Leader Bill Shorten published a list of 28 names of MPs and Senators who would take front bench positions in his Shadow Ministry to oppose Tony Abbott’s Coalition administration. However, specific portfolios are not expected to be allocated to those individuals until later this week.
The most qualified and experienced politicians in the Federal Parliament wing of the Australian Labor Party to lead the Communications portfolio opposing Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull are Conroy, who held the post of Communications Minister for the majority of the past two terms of Government, and Senator Kate Lundy, who has held various roles both in Government and Opposition relating to the technology portfolio in general, and who has long been seen as a rival for Conroy’s role or a potential successor.
Lundy has held a long-term interest in the technology portfolio, and has agitated for positive change with respect to the Government’s approach to it, even when on the backbench during the Howard Government’s long stay in power. Lik Conroy, Lundy entered Parliament as a Senator in 1996.
Three other candidates have lesser experience in the Communications portfolio but have demonstrated either passion or have recently taken a role in the area. Anthony Albanese for a very short time added the Communications portfolio to his responsibilities prior to the last Federal Election, after Conroy resigned, and Sharon Bird added Regional Communications to her remit at the same time.
Probably the most experienced Labor politician after Conroy and Lundy in the portfolio is Ed Husic, who was only elected to Parliament in 2010 but has a deep history leading Australia’s main telecommunications union, the CEPU, and has also demonstrated a deep interest in the portfolio over the past several years through spearheading the Parliament’s IT price hike inquiry. Husic also held the role of Parliamentary Secretary for Broadband for a short time prior to the Federal Election and has remained active in the portfolio since the election.
With Conroy having resigned from the post of Communications Minister before the Federal Election, and Albanese not having an organic interest in the portfolio, it had previously been considered likely by many in the technology sector that the most likely candidates to become Shadow Communications Minister were Husic and Lundy. Husic has been associated with Labor’s NSW Right faction, while Lundy has long been a member of the Left.
However, in the list of front bench representatives announced by Shorten yesterday, only Albanese, Bird and Conroy were listed.
In an interview on the ABC’s Lateline show last night, Conroy was asked whether he would be a “shoo-in” to retake the Communications portfolio for Labor, given that the Senator remains a member of the United Nations’ Broadband Commission, and that last week he gave a major speech admitting Labor had severely underestimated the amount of work required to deliver the NBN.
“Oh, look, that’s a matter to be decided by Bill Shorten,” said Conroy. “Our rules have always been that the leader appoints the portfolio and makes those choices. I’ll obviously be talking with him, but I’m happy to take any portfolio that Bill would like me to to assist the Labor Party defeat the Abbott Government.”
Pressed on the matter, Conroy added: “Look, there’s no question I have an ongoing interest and I’m involved in a number of international bodies. But that decision is ultimately taken by Bill Shorten and I’m certainly not going to pre-empt Bill’s discussions, which he hasn’t had a chance to even have with, I suspect, many of the frontbench yet.”
There has already been criticism of Labor’s process of appointing new leaders. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Anna Burke penned an article yesterday for The Guardian noting she was “bitter and disappointed” about being left out of the Shadow Ministry, given her hard work in the past.
Burke wrote: “Having left a room where I must admit the bulk of people – both men and women – didn’t vote for me to get the chief opposition whip job not on the basis of merit or perceived capability but on the numbers and the deals done beforehand, one has to question the newly found “democracy” in the Labor party, and the notion that we all have a say.”
opinion/analysis
I’ll have more to say on this at a later date when Labor firms up the portfolio, but I have to say it appears like that we’ll be getting Conroy back in the Communications portfolio — either Conroy or possibly Albanese. If that happens, it would be a tragic loss of an opportunity to promote either Lundy or Husic, both of whom are experienced, passionate and deserve a run leading the portfolio. Conroy’s had his stint — it’s time to let someone else lead the NBN argument for Labor for a while.
Image credit: Office of Kate Lundy
I agree i wanted Ed Husic to get the Communications portfolio
There may have been issues due to links to a certain NSW Union official
Was inevitable once Shorten one the leadership role, with backing from the right. Husic, Lundy and Albo are all from the left so they won’t get a look in for at least 3 more years. Shorten will reward members of the right by giving them portfolios, a gift for their loyalty.
We will now see the faceless men, like Conroy – come back out of the woodwork and into positions of power.
It’s like Labor never learn.
What nonsense!
Lundy supported Shorten in the leadership vote, even though she is from the left faction. Her own faction prevented her from nominating for a portfolio following her decision support Shorten rather than the left’s candidate Albanese.
Shorten can’t give her a position unless she nominates?
Such a shame for all Australians that no place can be found on the ALP front bench for Kate Lundy. Very few people in politics have her range of understanding and knowledge about the massive impacts of digital transformation on our economy, society and culture. Very much a missed opportunity for a more progressive voice to be heard and a poor call by Shorten.
What a shame…
Once again the fucking Labor party, shoot themselves (so what, we are used to it) but more importantly, our NBN in the foot…FFS
Lundy is easily the most knowledgable politician in relation to comms (yes including Fletcher and Turnbull) … IMO.
*shrugs*
Please God, don’t let it be Conroy.
No point.
LNP will completely scramble the egg, there can be no realistic recovery from that.
Australia’s communications infrastructure on which our IT infrastructure is built will be forever from now the LNP’s baby and they will carry the responsibility for that for ever.
what’s with all the love for lundy, albanese, husic? what have they ever done? i use to be a conroy hater, a NBN doubter but without conroy, the NBN would have never started; he’s the best man for the job
>> without conroy, the NBN would have never started; he’s the best man for the job
Maybe, but without Conroy we wouldn’t have had the vituperative, personalized debate that was stuck on low-level technical issues, rather than on the reasons for, and benefits of, improved broadband performance.
The debate should have been about productivity, exports, jobs and international competitiveness in the digital economy. Instead we got endless comparisons to bridges, references bits and bytes and copper versus fibre.
An opportunity lost. Time to give someone else a crack.
The Butterfly effect?
Tracing it all back I actually I think Conroy is likely to have indirectly contributed to the demise of FTTH via his stubborn persistence in trying to implement his “spams & Scam”s internet filter.
Labor’s polling bottomed so Rudd was dumped for Gillard, another unpopular move.
At the time the the Greens openly opposed the filter while Abbott just wanted to destroy the NBN.
Consequently Gillard faced her election with many unhappy pro NBN potential Labor voters instead voting Green & to retain power she gifted Tony the “Carbon Tax Lie” & a raft of other Labor damaging Green compromises that sealed Labor’s (& FTTH’s) fate last September.
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