No party political leader willingly reshuffles his front bench close to an election, and Jeremy Hanson – faced with Brendan Smyth's unexpected departure last week – has applied the lightest of touches to his makeover of the ACT Liberals' leadership team. Mr Smyth's treasury duties have been bequeathed to the Liberals' deputy leader Alistair Coe, and his remaining portfolio duties shared among Steve Doszpot, Andrew Wall, Nicole Lawder and Mr Hanson.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
If anyone could be said to have profited from the reshuffle, it's Mr Coe. He already has carriage of the high-profile urban services and planning portfolios, and the addition of treasury will make him the Territory's most powerful politician after Jeremy Hanson if the Liberals win office on October 15. That prospect may have receded, however, after Mr Smyth resigned from the Assembly last week to become the ACT's first "commissioner for international engagement" starting on August 1.
Mr Smyth would have been the most high-profile and experienced of the Liberals' Brindabella candidates had he recontested the October election, and arguably could have helped the party secure four of the electorate's five members. That's an outcome which is vital if the party is to form government.
But with Mr Smyth's likely replacement (the 81-year-old Val Jeffrey) considered an uncertain starter for October, the Liberals may struggle to assemble a ticket strong enough to win two, let alone four of Brindabella's five seats. Doubtless, these considerations were on Chief Minister Andrew Barr's mind in the days before he kindly offered Mr Smyth the chance to become international engagement commissioner.
The speed with which Mr Barr created and filled the position, and its timing relative to the election, has prompted a chorus of dark mutterings about rank political opportunism, the expenditure of taxpayer funds without due process, and the lengths to which politicians will go to steal a march on their opponents. Mr Barr has not condescended to rebut such accusations – and this, together with his less than convincing defence of why the ACT needs a $300,000-a-year salesman, speaks volumes about his true intentions.
Mr Barr and chief ministers before him have enthusiastically promoted the ACT internationally for years, all as part of their official duties and without impinging on their executive and legislative responsibilities. The latter are light in any case, meaning chief minsters will continue to tout for trade and investment on the international stage. The suggestions from some quarters that Mr Smyth may be more engagement supernumerary than engagement supremo only underline the cynicism of the appointment.
Mr Smyth may not want for experience and know-how, but his appointment owes more to political rather than economic imperatives. In one fell swoop, Mr Barr's sidelined one of the Opposition's most experienced hands and hobbled its efforts to pick up an extra seat in Brindabella. If Mr Barr is congratulating himself on his cleverness, many voters may conclude he has been too clever by half, again.
