Shorten set to go in Cabinet reshuffle
The financial services industry appears set to get its fourth minister in just under five years, with Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten expected to be elevated to a more senior "inner-Cabinet" portfolio today.
The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, is expected to announce a Cabinet reshuffle later today with the most likely candidate to replace Shorten regarded as being the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, David Bradbury.
Since the Labor Party was elected to the Treasury benches in Canberra in 2007, the financial services portfolio has been handled by Tasmanian Senator Nick Sherry, the current immigration minister Chris Bowen and then Shorten.
While the current Future of Financial Advice process was initiated by Bowen, carriage of the legislation to its current stage has been almost entirely in the hands of Shorten who, prior to entering Parliament, was national secretary of the Australian Workers Union and a trustee on the board of what is now Australian Super.
Bradbury, a former tax lawyer, is not expected to bring the same level of union affiliation to the portfolio if he is elevated to handle the Financial Services portfolio.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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