The attorney general, George Brandis, has confirmed Peter Dutton will be sworn in as home affairs minister on 17 December, effectively volunteering the timing of the Turnbull government’s anticipated end-of-year ministerial reshuffle.
But while widespread speculation persists that Brandis will exit the Turnbull ministry at the time of the reshuffle, bound for a government appointment, the attorney general told Sky News on Tuesday afternoon his “intention” was to remain where he was.
As well as managing the legislative debates of this last sitting week, and the fallout from the citizenship disclosures by MPs, Malcolm Turnbull needs to adjust his frontbench to deal with the departure of the former special minister of state, Scott Ryan, and affirm Dutton in his new super ministry ahead of the new political year.
The government is also expected to hand down the midyear economic and fiscal outlook, the budget update, on 18 December.
Ahead of those end-of-year events, the Liberals are hoping to hold the Sydney seat of Bennelong in a crucial byelection due on 16 December.
While Labor is currently claiming underdog status in Bennelong despite recruiting a star candidate, the former New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally, and mounting a ferocious campaign in the electorate – the government is clearly not confident of holding the seat it held in 2016 by a margin of just under 10%.
The government spent a significant portion of question time both on Monday and on Tuesday crafting questions designed to attack Keneally’s record.
The Liberal party president, Nick Greiner, also wrote to supporters on Tuesday asking for donations to help get Alexander over the line.
In the donations pitch, Greiner notes that Labor is “throwing everything at this byelection ... backed by big unions, with big war chests, just itching to wield influence in a Labor government”.
He warns that if Labor prevails in the looming byelection “Bill Shorten will be dangerously close to becoming prime minister”.
Greiner defends the performance of the Turnbull government, noting “despite what you might hear in the media, your government is getting results”, and he says Alexander has been “a hard-working, well-respected local member”.
“The last thing Bennelong or Australia needs is a failed former premier, Kristina Keneally, bringing Labor one step closer to government,” he says.
“We must back JA, so he can remain a strong representative in a Liberal government.”
