NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has unveiled a significant frontbench reshuffle, sidelining leadership rival Alister Henskens, promoting a younger generation of MPs and redistributing key portfolios as she consolidates control of the Liberal–National Coalition ahead of the 2027 state election.
Henskens, who had been positioning himself for the leadership before Sloane’s victory in November, was demoted from shadow attorney-general to shadow special minister of state and government accountability, and lost his role as manager of opposition business.
Sloane defended the move, saying the portfolio would be “a key role that requires someone with great experience.”
Millennial MPs were elevated into major economic and policy roles, with Scott Farlow appointed shadow treasurer and Chris Rath promoted to housing, planning, public spaces and cities – reinforcing the Coalition’s shift towards boosting housing supply through a Yes In My Backyard approach that narrows differences with Labor.
Former Liberal leader Mark Speakman, who stepped aside to allow Sloane to take the leadership, was assigned the education portfolio. Oatley MP Mark Coure will remain on the frontbench, retaining the multiculturalism portfolio while also assuming responsibility for roads.
Damien Tudehope was removed from Treasury and shifted into the shadow attorney-general role after Sloane overturned his opposition to Labor’s workers’ compensation reforms late last year, delivering the Minns government a key legislative win.
New faces in the shadow ministry include Monica Tudehope as spokeswoman for finance and Western Sydney, Jacqui Munro covering environment, science and technology, heritage and the Central Coast, and Brendan Moylan overseeing agriculture and regional crime. Veteran conservative Anthony Roberts returned to the frontbench with responsibility for police, counterterrorism and corrections.
Nationals leader Gurmesh Singh becomes opposition spokesman for small business, while former Nationals leader Dugald Saunders has been left without a portfolio. Nationals MP and former education minister Sarah Mitchell has taken on the health portfolio.
James Griffin gained responsibility for artificial intelligence and investment and was appointed manager of opposition business in the Legislative Assembly. Eleni Petinos lost the finance portfolio but will take on jobs, industry and domestic manufacturing.
Sloane said the reshaped frontbench blended experience with renewal and was “ready to govern.”
“We have young people, we have mums and dads, we have people from the city and the country, people fresh out of corporate life,” she said.
“There were some hard decisions to make, as there are in any reshuffle. But there are also fresh new faces; it’s been a difficult job – we’ve got incredible talent.”
Source: Australian Financial Review
