Ousted minister calls on Labor to ditch timidity in second term, unleashes on Marles as ‘factional assassin’

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Ousted minister calls on Labor to ditch timidity in second term, unleashes on Marles as ‘factional assassin’

Labor’s Ed Husic has mounted a scathing attack on the Deputy Prime Minister, describing him as a “factional assassin” who prioritised factional wars over showing leadership.

The Member for Chifley, who increased his vote in his western Sydney seat, was ousted from the frontbench in Thursday’s factional carve-up of the ministry positions.

Former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus also lost his frontbench position.

Mr Husic said on Sunday that once it became clear Mr Marles, from the Victorian right, wasn’t going to budget in his claim to more ministry positions for his faction, he had volunteered to step down so as not to force his fellow NSW right colleagues into a messy ballot.

But he said Mr Marles should reflect on how he had put Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a bad spot with the factional blood-letting marring Labor’s historic and unifying election victory.

“I think when people look at a deputy prime minister, they expect to see a statesman, not a factional assassin,” Mr Husic told ABC’s Insiders.

He acknowledged that he had often been outspoken in cabinet and occasionally publicly over the past three years.

That included using his authority as the most senior ******* member of the Government to speak out about the Middle East conflict both in cabinet and publicly.

But he vowed not to keep silent on the backbench.

“We need to burn through the timidity that has shackled us in the first term. We are going to need to make big changes in a world that is changing fast to ensure the country stands on its own two feet,” he said.

“I have a contribution to make. I want to keep making it, and I’ll do it from the backbench.

“And I’ve got to say, I’ve walked political deserts before. All I hope for at the end is you might have a bottle of water for me when I emerge.”

Mr Albanese is now deciding how to allocate portfolios, with his new ministry set to be sworn in on Tuesday.

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