P 060732Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY CANBERRA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8686
INFO AMCONSUL MELBOURNE PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL PERTH PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL SYDNEY PRIORITY 
CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 001728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR AS
SUBJECT: NEW OPPOSITION SHADOW CABINET 
 
REF: CANBERRA 1698 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor James F. Cole, for reasons 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d). 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Liberal Party leader Brendan Nelson 
announced his new Shadow Ministry December 6, the same day 
Prime Minister Rudd held his first Cabinet meeting.  Nelson's 
front bench is a mixture of veterans from the Howard 
Government and newcomers.  None of the veterans were in the 
same portfolios they had occupied under John Howard. 
Long-serving former Treasurer Peter Costello and former 
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer declined to accept 
portfolios in the Shadow Ministry and have moved to the 
backbench.  In addition to the earlier appointments of 
Malcolm Turnbull as Shadow Treasurer and Deputy Opposition 
Leader Julie Bishop as Spokesperson for Workplace Relations 
(reftel), Nelson announced the appointment of Senator Nick 
Minchin, formerly Finance Minister, as Coalition Spokesperson 
for Defense.  Andrew Robb, Howard's campaign director when he 
first was elected prime minister in 1996 and a junior 
minister in the last Howard government, is the new Shadow 
Minister for Foreign Affairs.  With the National Party 
winning only 10 seats in the November election, it did not 
receive the Trade Portfolio, which was given to the Liberal 
Party's Ian MacFarlane, the former minister for Industry. 
Joe Hockey, who defended Howard's unpopular workplace 
relations laws during the campaign, received another 
prominent position as Shadow Health and Aging Minister, while 
the polarizing right-winger and Howard-favorite, former 
Health Minister Tony Abbott, received the portfolio of 
Family, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
MINCHIN FOR DEFENSE 
 
¶2. (SBU) Senator Nick Minchin from South Australia, one of 
the Coalition's most senior members, has been appointed 
Shadow Defense Minister.  Formerly Government Leader in the 
Senate and Minister for Finance, Minchin is close to former 
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.  They are both from the 
right-wing of the South Australian Liberal Party.  Minchin, 
who visited the US on a political exchange in 1990, is a 
strong supporter of the US Alliance. 
 
ROBB AT FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
 
¶3. (SBU) Andrew Robb, from the state of Victoria, although in 
Parliament only since 2004, as expected, received Foreign 
Affairs.  He is a former Liberal Party Federal Director who 
helped John Howard win his first election in 1996.   Robb has 
also worked as executive director of two prominent business 
lobbying organizations.  He served as Minister for Vocational 
Education and Training in the last Howard government.  Robb 
is one of the Coalition's more credible performers and while 
he has no background in foreign affairs, he has the political 
experience and stature within the Liberal Party that the job 
demands. 
 
EDUCATION GOES TO A NEWCOMER 
 
¶4. (SBU) Perhaps the biggest winner was Tony Smith, who has 
been handed the Education, Apprenticeship and Training 
portfolio.  An adviser to former Treasurer Peter Costello 
before entering Parliament in 2001, Smith was Parliamentary 
Secretary to the Prime Minister before the election. 
 
SIPDIS 
Opposition Leader Nelson emphasized that Education would 
remain a separate portfolio for the Coalition, in contrast to 
the Government, which has created a "super-ministry" of 
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations under the 
leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. 
 
THE NATIONAL PARTY GETS LESS 
QTHE NATIONAL PARTY GETS LESS 
 
¶5. (SBU) The National Party, whose electoral fortunes 
continue to decline as its representation in the House of 
Representatives dropped from 12 to 10 seats after the 
November election, has had its representation in Shadow 
Cabinet downgraded.  The Trade portfolio, for decades held by 
the Nationals, has now been assigned to Liberal MP Ian 
Macfarlane, a former Industry Minister. 
 
JOE HOCKEY GETS HEALTH 
 
¶6. (SBU) In other significant appointments, former Workplace 
Relations Minister Joe Hockey is now Shadow Minister for 
Health.  This is another prominent role for him and should 
help him erase his previous image as the defender of Howard's 
 
unpopular workplace relations laws.  Greg Hunt, former 
parliamentary secretary to Foreign Minister Downer, is now 
spokesperson for climate change.  Former Aging Minister 
Christopher Pyne, an unsuccessful contender for the Deputy 
Leadership and a long-time supporter of Peter Costello's 
leadership ambitions, surprisingly was left out of Shadow 
Cabinet and assigned the Justice and Border Protection 
portfolio.  George Brandis, a Peter Costello supporter who 
came to prominence in 2004 for allegedly calling Howard a 
"lying rodent," is Shadow Attorney-General.  Former Health 
Minister Tony Abbott, is now Shadow Minister for Family, 
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. 
 
PAYOFF FOR ABBOTT? 
 
¶7. (C/NF) COMMENT: Abbott demonstrated his propensity for 
insensitivity and controversy during what was a disastrous 
election campaign for him.  His appointment to the emotive 
area of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 
is risky, particularly given the fact that he is an outspoken 
conservative Catholic who once studied for the priesthood. 
It is possible that Abbott received this portfolio in return 
for pulling out of the leadership contest and delivering his 
numbers to Nelson.  That the National Party has lost its 
treasured Trade portfolio will please many Liberal MPs who 
believe the Nationals had an influence in John Howard's 
Coalition unwarranted by parliamentary representation or 
ability.  Pitting the inexperienced Tony Smith in Education 
against the formidable Julia Gillard is perhaps surprising. 
A more experienced performer might have been better able to 
expose the weaknesses created by Gillard's overly expansive 
portfolio of education and workplace relations. 
Nevertheless, the Coalition frontbench - with 11 former 
Cabinet Ministers - should provide an effective opposition. 
 
MCCALLUM