The shadow cabinet or shadow ministry is a feature of the Westminster system of government. It consists of a senior group of opposition spokespeople who, under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, form an alternative cabinet to that of the government, and whose members shadow or mirror the positions of each individual member of the Cabinet. Their areas of responsibility, in parallel with the ruling party's ministries, may be referred to as a shadow portfolio. Members of a shadow cabinet have no executive power. It is the shadow cabinet's responsibility to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government, as well as to offer alternative policies. The shadow cabinet makes up the majority of the Official Opposition frontbench, as part of frontbenchers to the parliament.
Anthony Norman Albanese is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parliament (MP) for Grayndler since 1996. Albanese previously served as the 15th deputy prime minister under the second Kevin Rudd government in 2013; he held various ministerial positions in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013.
Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon is a retired Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2022, representing the New South Wales seat of Hunter. He served as Minister for Defence (2007–2009) in the first Rudd Government and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (2013) in the second Rudd Government. He was also Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives (2010–2013) in the Gillard Government.
Brendan Patrick O'Connor is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Skills and Training since 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2001. He held ministerial office in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013, including as a member of cabinet from 2012 to 2013. He was a member of the shadow cabinet from 2013 to 2022.
Tanya Joan Plibersek is an Australian politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2019. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sydney since 1998. A member of the Labor Party, Plibersek served as a Cabinet Minister in the Rudd, Gillard and Albanese governments. She is currently the Minister for the Environment and Water in the Albanese ministry since 2022, having previously served as the Shadow Minister for Education and Shadow Minister for Women between 2019 and 2022.
The Cabinet of Australia is the chief decision-making organ of the executive branch of the government of Australia. It is a council of senior government ministers, ultimately responsible to the Federal Parliament.
Kim John Carr is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.
Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Climate Change and Energy in the Albanese government since June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was first elected to parliament at the 2004 federal election. He held ministerial office in the Rudd and Gillard governments from 2007 to 2013.
William Richard Shorten is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2013 to 2019. He has also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Maribyrnong since 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the Gillard and Rudd governments from 2010 to 2013.
Richard Donald Marles is an Australian politician serving as the 19th deputy prime minister of Australia and the Minister for Defence. He has been the deputy leader of the Labor Party since 2019 and previously served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Marles has served as a Member of the Australian Parliament for Corio in Victoria since the 2007 election.
Linda Jean Burney is an Australian politician and is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Albanese ministry, and the first woman who identifies as Aboriginal to serve in that position.
Jason Dean Clare is an Australian politician serving as Minister for Education since 1 June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Division of Blaxland in Western Sydney since 2007.
Mark Christopher Butler is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd Governments and also served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018.
Edham Nurredin Husic, commonly known as Ed Husic, is an Australian politician serving as Minister for Industry and Science since 2022. Husic is a member of the Australian House of Representatives, elected to represent the seat of Chifley in western Sydney for the Australian Labor Party at the 2010 federal election. He is the first Muslim to be elected to federal parliament, as well as the first Muslim to be made a Minister in the Australian Government.
Michelle Anne Rowland is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Division of Greenway in the House of Representatives since 2010. She was a member of the shadow ministry from 2013 to 2022, and was elected President of the Australian Labor Party in October 2021. She is now the Minister for Communications in the government of Anthony Albanese following the ALP's victory in the 2022 Australian federal election.
Patrick Martin Conroy is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Labor Left faction and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2013. He represented the Division of Charlton in New South Wales until its abolition in 2016, and since then has represented the Division of Shortland. He is currently the Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for International Development and the Pacific.
James Edward Chalmers is an Australian politician, currently serving as Treasurer of Australia since 23 May 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served as a member of parliament for the division of Rankin since 2013.
Madeleine Mary Harvie King is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia in the Albanese government since June 2022. She has represented the Western Australian seat of Brand in the House of Representatives since 2016. She worked as a lawyer and political adviser before entering politics.
A leadership election was held in May 2019 to determine the successor to Bill Shorten as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition. Shorten announced his pending resignation on 18 May, following Labor's surprise defeat in the 2019 federal election. The leadership was confirmed unopposed; Anthony Albanese was elected as Leader, with Richard Marles elected Deputy Leader.
The Albanese ministry is the 73rd ministry of the Government of Australia. It is led by the country's 31st Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. The Albanese ministry succeeded the second Morrison ministry, which resigned on 23 May 2022 following the federal election that took place on 21 May which saw Labor defeat Scott Morrison's Liberal–National Coalition.
