The Shadow Ministry of Bill Shorten was the opposition Australian Labor Party shadow ministry from October 2013 to May 2019, opposing the Abbott government, Turnbull government and Morrison government.
The Opposition Front Bench is a group of senior Opposition spokespeople who are regarded as the alternative Cabinet to the Cabinet of Australia, whose members shadow or mark each individual Minister or portfolio of the Government. Neither the Shadow Cabinet nor the Shadow Ministers have any official status in the Parliament of Australia. The Shadow Cabinet's membership is determined by the rules and practices of the Opposition party.
From 2013 Labor leadership ballot resulting from the 2013 Australian federal election, to 2019, the Shadow Cabinet was led by former Opposition Leader Bill Shorten of the Australian Labor Party. Prime Ministers Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison led the Liberal/National Coalition governments during this time.
Bill Shorten announced the first arrangement of his Shadow Ministry on 18 October 2013.[1] Shadow Assistant Minister for Health Melissa Parke resigned on 17 February 2014[2] On 4 March, she was replaced in that role by Stephen Jones. Alannah MacTiernan was appointed to Jones's previous role as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure and was also appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Western Australia.
On 1 July 2014, Don Farrell's Senate term expired. Farrell's portfolios of Veterans’ Affairs the Centenary of ANZAC were added to those of David Feeney. Amanda Rishworth replaced Farrell in the Ministry as Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Higher Education. Nick Champion replaced Rishworth as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health. Louise Pratt's Senate term expired at the same time. She was replaced as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water by Lisa Singh, whose position as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General was taken by Graham Perrett. Joel Fitzgibbon also added the portfolio of Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs to his existing Agriculture portfolio.
Michelle Rowland and Katy Gallagher were promoted to the Shadow Cabinet on 13 October 2015.[3] The final arrangement of the Shadow Ministry prior to the 2016 election was announced in October 2015.[4]
Following the narrow defeat at the 2016 election, the Australian Labor Party re-elected Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek as leader and deputy leader respectively. On 23 July 2016, the Shadow Cabinet was announced.[5][6]
Sam Dastyari resigned from the Ministry on 7 September 2016.[7] He was replaced as Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs by Tim Hammond and by Katy Gallagher as Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. Deborah O'Neill replaced Hammond as Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation, also being appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health. Warren Snowdon added the position of Shadow Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health to his existing portfolios. Hammond was not replaced as Shadow Assistant Minister for Digital Economy and Startups or Shadow Assistant Minister for Resources and Western Australia. Instead, Ed Husic was appointed as Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy on 11 October 2016.
In 2017, Kate Ellis announced her intention to retire from Parliament at the next election. She was replaced as Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Development by Amanda Rishworth, who entered the Shadow Cabinet. The TAFE portfolio was given to Doug Cameron and the training portfolio was given to Tanya Plibersek.
Katy Gallagher resigned from the shadow ministry pending a ruling on her eligibility for election to Parliament