Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has made sweeping changes to his office designed to sharpen Labor's political messaging and help ready the party for a federal election.
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Mr Shorten announced late Tuesday communications specialists Ryan Liddell and Gerard Richardson would move into new and more high profile roles.
Mr Liddell, formerly Mr Shorten's communications director, has been promoted to chief of staff, the most senior position in the office. Mr Richardson filled the vacancy created by Mr Liddell.
The appointment of the well-regarded Mr Liddell, who has served Mr Shorten since he became opposition leader in October 2013, caps a meteoric rise for the Melbourne-based staffer, who began as a fresh-faced media adviser in Canberra in 2011 under former attorney-general Robert McClelland.
Mr Liddell then joined the office of the then treasurer Wayne Swan, where he worked alongside Andrew Thomas, a former Treasury official who was Mr Swan's chief of staff.
Mr Thomas returned to federal politics in July 2016 to serve as Mr Shorten's third chief of staff. But the recent birth of his first child has led Mr Thomas to resign from the role. He will spend six months as his son's full-time carer.
Mr Richardson began working for Labor frontbencher Jenny Macklin and switched to Mr Shorten when Labor moved into opposition.
Sharon McCrohan, who has served as media chief to Victorian premiers Steve Bracks and John Brumby, will work with the office as a consultant.
Mr Shorten's first chief of staff was former Rio Tinto executive Ken Macpherson; he was followed by Queensland Labor factional heavyweight Cameron Milner, who left soon after the 2016 election.