Prime Minister Albanese’s Sunday ministerial shuffle of the deck chairs reminds me of the movie Titanic.  Musicians played on as a bewildered captain wades to the wheelhouse and the ship sinks into the Atlantic.  The foreseeable iceberg of Labor regulation and spending has torn a hole in the mighty Australian economy.  Sunken Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil clings to the adrift housing portfolio door as former Immigration Minister Giles sneaks aboard a life raft.

For our farmers, much as I am glad to see the back of the anti-agriculture reign of Minister Murray Watt, his replacement is hardly a rain-maker. Julie Collins’ tenure as Minister for Housing saw only 161,341 dwellings commence construction in 2023, a 13 per cent drop from 2022 as housing affordability collapses. I hope Minister Collins relents after promoting big-government housing policy and instead deregulates in her new agriculture and small business portfolios.  She has her work cut out for her in agriculture after Minister Watt put the activists in charge, banning live sheep exports by 2028. He also brought in a $50m per annum fresh food tax but Minister Watt did at least unite the farming sector – against Labor.

As Small Business Minister, Julie Collins needs to restore confidence in regional small business, with 57 per cent recently telling the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry survey they were considering quitting in the next 12 months under Labor’s regulatory burdens.

Fresh from bulldozing away productivity in the Australian economy, union hero Minister Tony Burke becomes Immigration Minister.  The Coalition had called for former Immigration Minister Andrew Giles’ tenure to end months ago after Labor’s release of dangerous detainees into the community and 528,000 migration arrivals, exacerbating housing shortages. Minister Burke’s previous Rudd-era immigration stint hardly fills us with confidence, presiding over 83 illegal boat arrivals coming to our shores.

While Labor continues rudderless into the freezing economic night, the Coalition stands ready to right the ship of state and take us back to the safer waters of competent economic management.