Shadow Cabinet of Australia

The Shadow Cabinet of Australia is a group of senior Opposition spokespeople who form an alternative Cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual Minister or portfolio of the Government.

The "opposition front bench" comprises the full shadow ministry including the shadow cabinet, other shadow ministers and shadow parliamentary secretaries.

As an institution, the shadow cabinet is much less defined—or studied—than the Cabinet with its well established formal procedures. Shadow Cabinet operates more as a committee of an opposition political party than an institution of Government or Parliament. The Cabinet Handbook was first published in 1926 and the updated version is available on-line^[1] but no such equivalent exists for Shadow Cabinet.^[2]

Since the 2007 federal election, the Liberal–National Coalition has been the Official Opposition. Following the 2010 federal election, the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, announced the current Shadow Cabinet on 14 September 2010.

Members of the Shadow Cabinet

The following are the current members of the Shadow Cabinet^[3]:

Party	Portfolio	Shadow Minister	House
Liberal	Leader of the Opposition	Tony Abbott	MP
Liberal	Deputy Leader of the Opposition Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shadow Minister for Trade	Julie Bishop	MP
National	Leader of the Nationals Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport	Warren Truss	MP
Liberal	Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations	Eric Abetz	Senator
Liberal	Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shadow Attorney-General Shadow Minister for Arts	George Brandis	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Treasurer	Joe Hockey	MP
Liberal	Manager of Opposition Business in the House Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training	Christopher Pyne	MP
Country Liberal	Deputy Leader of the Nationals Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs	Nigel Scullion	Senator
National	Leader of the Nationals in the Senate Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Water	Barnaby Joyce	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Finance, Deregulation and Debt Reduction Chairman, Coalition Policy Development Committee	Andrew Robb	MP
National	Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources	Ian Macfarlane	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Defence	David Johnston	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband	Malcolm Turnbull	MP
National	Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing	Peter Dutton	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services	Kevin Andrews	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage	Greg Hunt	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Productivity and Population, Immigration and Citizenship	Scott Morrison	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science	Sophie Mirabella	MP
National	Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security	John Cobb	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs	Bruce Billson	MP

Other Shadow Ministers

Party	Portfolio	Shadow Minister	House
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Tourism Shadow Minister for Regional Development	Bob Baldwin	MP
Liberal	Shadow Assistant Treasurer Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation	Mathias Cormann	Senator
National	Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House Shadow Minister for Youth and Sport Shadow Minister for Regional Communications	Luke Hartsuyker	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Employment Participation Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Childhood Learning	Sussan Ley	MP
Liberal National	Shadow Minister for Universities and Research	Brett Mason	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Indigenous Development and Employment Shadow Minister for Housing Shadow Minister for COAG	Marise Payne	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate	Mitch Fifield	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection	Michael Keenan	MP
Liberal National	Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel	Stuart Robert	MP
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs	Michael Ronaldson	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Minister for Ageing Shadow Minister for Mental Health	Concetta Fierravanti-Wells	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Special Minister of State Shadow Minister for Seniors	Bronwyn Bishop	MP

Shadow Parliamentary Secretaries

Party	Portfolio	Shadow Minister	House
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Supporting Families	Cory Bernardi	Senator
Liberal National	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement	Teresa Gambaro	MP
National	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport	Darren Chester	MP
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney-General Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Materiel	Gary Humphries	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Tax Reform Deputy Chairman, Coalition Policy Development Committee	Tony Smith	MP
National	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education	Fiona Nash	Senator
Liberal National	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Defence Force and Defence Support	Ian Macdonald	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government	Don Randall	MP
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray-Darling Basin Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Environment	Simon Birmingham	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare	Dr Andrew Southcott	MP
Liberal National	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health	Dr Andrew Laming	MP
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Status of Women Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration	Michaelia Cash	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation, Industry and Science Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry	Richard Colbeck	Senator
Liberal	Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Fair Competition	Scott Ryan	Senator
Liberal	Chairman, Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee	Jamie Briggs	MP

Other positions

Shadow Cabinet Secretary: Philip Ruddock MP
Chief Opposition Whip: Warren Entsch MP
Opposition Whip: Patrick Secker MP
Deputy Opposition Whip: Nola Marino MP

Previous Shadow Cabinets

• September 2008 to November 2009
• December 2007 to September 2008
• December 2006 to November 2007
• March 2005 to December 2006
• October 2004 to March 2005
• July 2004 to October 2004

See also

• Cabinet of Australia
• First Rudd Ministry
• Current Australian Commonwealth ministry
• New South Wales Shadow Cabinet

References

1. ^ http://www.dpmc.gov.au/guidelines/docs/cabinet_handbook.pdf
2. ^ http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/monographs/Bateman/Bateman_monograph.pdf
3. ^ http://liberal.org.au/Latest-News/2010/09/14/~/media/Files/Abbott%20Shadow%20Ministry%20Attachment%2014092010.pdf

External links

• Parliament of Australia, Official current Shadow Ministry list
• Shadow Ministry, [1]