Peter Dutton has finally unveiled his new-look front bench, which includes a newly created Donald Trump-style “government efficiency” portfolio.
The opposition leader revealed the changes at a press conference in Cairns, announcing Sydney-based MP David Coleman would replace retiring Senator Simon Birmingham as shadow foreign affairs minister.
Dutton also made the eye-catching announcement of Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as his shadow minister for government efficiency.
The new portfolio is almost certainly inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
That department, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is not an official agency but is the president’s move to trim government programs and spending.
“There’s a lot of waste that’s been generated over the course of the last two and a half years, $6 billion a year spent on 36,000 new public servants in Canberra that are of no assistance whatsoever to the people of Cairns, and the people of regional communities who want additional investment,” Dutton told reporters.
Senator Price adds the portfolio to her Indigenous Australians role, where she successfully campaigned against the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Meanwhile, Coleman takes the foreign affairs reins after Senator Birmingham announced he will leave parliament at the coming federal election.
“It’s time for us to have a change of government in this country, to get our country back on track, and part of that is to rebuild international relations,” Dutton said.
Coleman had previously held the communications role, which will be picked up by NSW MP Melissa McIntosh. Coleman’s electorate of Banks has a very large Chinese-Asian community.
Other moves saw Senator Claire Chandler take the government services and digital economy portfolio from Paul Fletcher, who is also set to quit at the election.
South Australian MP Tony Pasin will take roads and road safety, while NSW MP Julian Leeser and Senator Matt O'Sullivan will take shadow assistant minister roles in foreign affairs and education respectively.
Leeser previously quit the coalition frontbench in 2023 after the opposition leader announced the party would oppose the Voice to Parliament.
Leeser, who is Jewish, has been outspoken about the issue of antisemitism in Australia.
Senator Kerrynne Liddle will take on the additional role of shadow minister for Indigenous Health Services on top of her Child Protection and Prevention of Family Violence portfolios.
Queensland MP Ted O'Brien adds shadow minister for Energy Affordability and Reliability, to his Climate Change and Energy portfolios.
MP Michael Sukkar assumes the role of Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives.
