PETER VAN ONSELEN: Sussan Ley had the chance to put her seal on the Coalition's new future. Instead, she may just have sealed her own fate...
Sussan Ley unveiled her shadow frontbench line up today and boy, are there some clangers.
The most obvious one is former shadow finance minister Jane Hume missing out altogether. I'm told it wasn't a case of her refusing a lesser role than her previous portfolio finance, which was given to fellow Victorian Senator James Paterson.
Hume was dumped despite the fact she voted for Ley in the leadership showdown. That win by just five votes might have just got a little tighter.
At least Hume will now be able to spend more time working from home, after she was accused of being behind the ill-fated WFH policy that was overturned early in the election campaign.
The most under-utilised member of the new frontbench is former Australian ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma.
Rather than getting a senior role in the Opposition's foreign affairs team he's been thrust into a junior assistant shadow ministerial role.
It's a classic case of wasting talent when the opposition really doesn't have all that much talent to begin with.
The alternative leader Angus Taylor was handed defence, as expected. Perhaps more unexpectedly he'll be working with the junior shadow defence spokesperson Jacinta Price. Price as tipped missed out on shadow cabinet.
The pair wanted to work together as the new leader and deputy leader, but at least they'll have plenty of time to work closely plotting a new pathway to victory as they claim to be discussing defence priorities in their shared portfolios.
Deputy leader Ted O'Brien used his right as the official number two in the opposition team to take the shadow treasury role for himself.
A master graduate in economics from the London School of Economics makes him well qualified for the job, but it remains to be seen whether or not he has the political skills to make a fist of it in parliament.
After all, he was the shadow minister responsible for selling Peter Dutton's nuclear policy at the last election.
Tim Wilson is rightly now in shadow cabinet in charge of industrial relations, despite his opponent - the dancing teal - Zoe Daniel still refusing to concede defeat after demanding a recount.
Team Ley is spinning the new-look line-up as well balanced. But were that really the case would a senior female parliamentarian like Hume have been dumped?
The Coalition isn't exactly loaded with female candidates, and Ley's shadow cabinet has even fewer women in it than Dutton's team did, down to just six.
The other message Ley is trying to sell is that renewal was an important factor in some of her frontbench choices, which is an interesting line to run by someone who served on John Howard's frontbench over 20 years ago.
While Liberals avoided the awkward need to fill a total of 45 frontbench roles from a parliamentary team of just 50 MPs and Senators, by getting back into bed with the Nationals so their MPs could share the spoils, the junior coalition partner decided to leave two former deputy PMs out of there quota of shadow ministers.
Neither Michael McCormack nor Barnaby Joyce made it onto Nationals leader David Littleproud's list.
They will no doubt agitate from the backbench now, only adding to the instability in the opposition's ranks.
There are a lack of city Liberals on the new look frontbench team, but that's isn't actually something Ley can be held accountable for.
Because the voters tossed Liberals out of virtually every city based electorate the new leader didn't have a lot of choices amongst city MPs.
She did what she could, including grabbing a senator to be responsible for urban renewal, James McGrath. But I'm not sure urban renewal includes trying to win back city seats specifically.
Andrew Hastie wanted out of the narrow casting of defence responsibilities, given his time in the military before entering parliament.
Ley did move him, but only next door into the equally narrow home affairs portfolio. Hastie will claim to be happy with that.
Perhaps the most startling appointment for foreign dignitaries who visit Australia will prove to be Michaelia Cash becoming the new shadow foreign minister.
The good senator isn't exactly known for her quiet….diplomacy (or anything really).
Although it would be worth the price of admission to listen in to her first phone call or meeting with US President Donald Trump.
We know Trump likes the sound of his own voice, but how might he feel about hers when the time comes?
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