Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced former treasurer Joe Hockey's appointment as Australia's next ambassador to the United States.
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Ms Bishop confirmed the appointment via a short press release on Tuesday morning.
The announcement comes after Saturday's byelection in Mr Hockey's former seat of North Sydney, which was won by former Hockey staffer Trent Zimmerman.
Mr Hockey will begin his post in early 2016, replacing the widely respected Kim Beazley who has served in the role since 2010.
Mr Hockey resigned from Parliament after September's leadership coup that saw Scott Morrison replace him as Treasurer.
He made his final speech to Parliament on October 21.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday Mr Hockey would be "the face of Australia to Washington".
"Our relationship with the United States is a very deep one," he said.
"It is not just between a Prime Minister and a President or an ambassador and a President. It is a people to people relationship.
"It is very, very complex and intimate and at every level strategic, economic, cultural, social, family, but the ambassador, the Australian ambassador in Washington is our representative in the United States."
He said Mr Hockey was taking on a very important role.
"Joe will be as Kim has been the face of Australia to Washington. To the most powerful government in the world, the face of Australia will be Joe Hockey."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said on Tuesday the appointment was "a trifle strange".
"Malcolm Turnbull didn't trust Joe Hockey to be treasurer but how do we know he really trusts Joe Hockey to be ambassador to America?" he said.
Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, said the United States was Australia's most important diplomatic post and the opposition wished Mr Hockey well.
"Joe Hockey's success will be Australia's success," she said.
"What is strange about this appointment is Joe Hockey's own admission that if he had stayed in politics, he would only be there for payback reasons, to get even with the people who had brought him down.
"It is an extraordinary admission to someone who is taking on such an important post. What is even more extraordinary about it is the former adversaries he is talking about are the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister – the very people he will be having to report to as ambassador to Washington."
Ms Plibersek said the position should be filled by someone with "a deep interest in foreign affairs" and Mr Hockey had not expressed such an interest in the past.
Michael Fullilove, executive director of international policy think tank the Lowy Institute, said Mr Hockey had several advantages for his post.
"He's a politician in a town that is run by politicians; he's personable in a town where you need to get along to go along; and he's moderate in a town where both sides of politics share power," Dr Fullilove said.
But he said to succeed, Mr Hockey would need to prosecute Australia's case with "force and great energy".
"It's a hard job, though – Washington is the competitive diplomatic environment in the world," he said.
