Albanese to dole out an extra ministry to the Left after landslide win
The moves depend on the final election tally, with many seats still in doubt, but have already triggered concerns in the party's Right faction about the limited options for promotion into the ministry and cabinet.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will convene a caucus meeting in Parliament House on Friday to mark the historic victory last Saturday and formalise the vote on the membership of the ministry, clearing the way for him to allocate the portfolios.
The caucus will increase from 103 members and senators before the election to at least 110 and as many as 121 after the votes are finalised.
The Labor Left will add more members to the caucus than the Right, shifting the balance of power within the parliamentary party and so giving it another position in the ministry.
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Incoming Tasmanian MP Rebecca White, a former state opposition leader, is seen as a likely appointment to the ministry in the Left faction vote. The other leading candidates are Ged Kearney, a former president of the ACTU, and Jess Walsh, an economist and former union official.
The three Left faction members are in line to replace the position in the ministry vacated by Shorten before the election, but this is likely to mean a place in the outer ministry rather than cabinet.
Albanese elevated Aged Care Minister Anika Wells to cabinet before the election, filling Shorten's position at that level with a prominent member of the Queensland Right.
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