Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is expected to be removed from Labor’s frontbench following a factional push by the Victorian Right, which has backed second-term MP Sam Rae to take his place.
Rae, a close ally of Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, emerged as the preferred candidate during a tense faction meeting on May 8.
Dreyfus’ ousting underscores the influence of internal party dynamics on cabinet selections.
Industry Minister Ed Husic is also likely to lose his position as part of a broader effort by Labor to restore the cabinet’s geographic and factional balance, particularly between New South Wales and Victoria.
Labor’s front bench is determined through a complex quota system that allocates portfolios based on state representation and ideological alignment.
The latest negotiations are expected to result in fresh faces, including Tim Ayres from NSW, and Ged Kearney and Daniel Mulino from Victoria.
With the party’s progressive Left gaining ground in the latest election, their influence in the cabinet lineup is set to expand.
Albanese Calls for Unity
Amid speculation and media scrutiny, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese downplayed reports of infighting, insisting the process was unfolding as planned.
“We have a process, and we’ll work it through,” he told Sky News, without commenting on individual positions.
“No individual is greater than the collective, and that includes myself,” he said.
“When you’re focused inwards, the electorate will mark you down.”
The Prime Minister pointed to the Coalition’s internal struggles as a cautionary tale, saying their unity came at the expense of real policy development.
“They had some level of unity, but that was on the basis of not having any policy debate that developed the nuclear plan,” he said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke declined to confirm whether Dreyfus would be removed or whether NSW would lose a cabinet seat.
“I wouldn’t know the answer to any of that,” Burke said at Canberra Airport.
Instead, he highlighted Labor’s abundance of talent as both an asset and a challenge.
“We’ve got a whole lot of talented people. That’ll work its way out through other processes,” he said.
New Cabinet to Be Sworn In on May 13
Labor MPs gathered in Canberra on May 8 ahead of their first caucus meeting, scheduled for May 9.
A list of 30 names will be presented to the Prime Minister, who will determine final positions before the official swearing-in on May 13.
With the Greens and Liberals also facing leadership transitions—Adam Bandt projected to lose his seat and Peter Dutton voted out—Labor’s internal recalibration is unfolding against a broader political shakeup.
AAP contributed to this article.
