Teal call for snap climate election as rumours of cabinet reshuffle swirl

This masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor last month showed Australians split on nuclear power with 41 per cent of voters backing the shift to atomic energy and 37 per cent rejecting it.

The survey showed 60 per cent of Coalition voters were in favour of nuclear while only 30 per cent of Labor voters and 28 per cent of Greens supporters agreed with it.

Dutton told Coalition colleagues at a party room meeting on Tuesday to be ready for an early election — pointing to Albanese’s decision not to attend a historic NATO summit in Washington next week as a sign the government was already campaigning.

Dutton had privately warned his MPs for several weeks that a September election was possible, according to three Liberals who spoke on background to detail party thinking.

The MPs cited three reasons for Dutton to sound the alarm: to put MPs on notice to ramp up fundraising efforts; to encourage shadow ministers to accelerate policy development; and to enforce discipline and focus.

Four Labor MPs, also speaking anonymously to discuss strategy, do not believe a September election is likely. However, they concede an election at the end of the year – for example, on December 7 – remains a possibility.

There has been growing chatter in Canberra since Monday of an imminent shake-up of Labor’s cabinet. Senior factional figures said it was not clear if Albanese was plotting a reshuffle, though they would not be surprised if an announcement occurred relatively soon after parliament rises for the long winter break at the end of this week.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor are both widely expected to retire at the end of this term of parliament, providing a trigger for a reshuffle. Burney said after the Voice referendum she was “more determined than ever” to keep working.

MPs have speculated that Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Housing Minister Julie Collins could potentially be moved to different roles.

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Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has been floated as an option to take either home affairs or housing. Labor sources said there was a view Watt, a barrister and combative parliamentary performer, should be given a role in which he was involved in daily political debate.

MPs suggested Giles could do a direct swap with Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh or assistant minister Patrick Gorman and remain in the outer ministry.

The offices of Giles, O’Neil and O’Connor were contacted for comment.