Time for Tony Abbott to reshuffle the ministerial deck

Aug. 15, 2014, 7:30 a.m.

COMMENT: A year after a landslide election win seems too soon to have a ministerial reshuffle, but with his government languishing in the polls, a number of ministers performing poorly and an unrepresentative cabinet, Prime Minister Tony Abbott must surely consider this in coming months.

A year after a landslide election win seems too soon to have a ministerial reshuffle, but with his government languishing in the polls, a number of ministers performing poorly and an unrepresentative cabinet, Prime Minister Tony Abbott must surely consider this in coming months.

Stunts like flying across the world, supposedly to offer condolences to the government and people of the Netherlands on their losses suffered in the flight MH17 atrocity, will not be enough to win over the Australian electorate.

While they may deflect attention from the awful budget and get the Prime Minister out of the difficult task of negotiating deals with the Senate crossbenchers, they are unlikely to give Abbott enough world-leader status to increase his long-term vote.

For that, a real game-changer is required.

The first and most obvious option is to jettison key parts of the budget, a suggestion clearly flagged by former Coalition treasurer and experienced political operator Peter Costello. Such a move, particularly the dumping of Abbotts paid parental leave scheme, would be welcomed by many of his parliamentary colleagues, including members of his own frontbench.

Unfortunately Treasurer Joe Hockey is sticking with the budget prescription and has even suggested a bigger dose of medicine should have been prescribed.

The second option is a major revamp of the ministry.

From the start, Abbotts cabinet has been unrepresentative. It is not just that it has only one woman. One of its problems is that the men themselves are unrepresentative, a disproportionate number holding conservative views on social issues such as abortion and homosexuality.

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Time for Tony Abbott to reshuffle the ministerial deck