Deputy PM Richard Marles rejects Ed Husic’s ‘factional assassin’ claim

Richard Marles has rejected dumped minister Ed Husic’s description of him as a “factional assassin” and denied he has blood on his hands following Labor’s post-election reshuffle.

During a visit to Perth on Thursday, the decision to axe Mr Husic and former Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus from the front bench dominated, with Mr Marles, who is acting Prime Minister while Anthony Albanese is in Indonesia, seemingly unable to steer reporters off the topic.

He blamed “collective processes” for the bloodletting, did not deny ignoring phone calls from Mr Husic and would not say whether he has spoken to Mr Dreyfus since the news broke.

“All the conversations I have ... I do on the basis that those conversations are confidential,” Mr Marles said.

“It is a difficult process and none of us have an entitlement to be a minister, we all know that. We know that we submit ourselves to those processes.”

Mr Husic lost his Cabinet role as a result of factional fighting within the Labor party brought on by the over subscription of the NSW right on the front bench. Mr Marles, the leader of the Victorian right, is thought to have orchestrated the move in order to secure more positions for his state. It’s believed Mr Dreyfus, who is also from the Victorian right, was axed to make way for new blood.

Mr Husic launched a scathing attack on national television in the wake of the cabinet reshuffle, accusing Mr Marles of prioritising factional wars over leadership.

“We’ve had sort of bare-faced ambition and a deputy prime minister wield a factional club to reshape the ministry,” Mr Husic told ABC Insiders on Sunday.

“I think when people look at a deputy prime minister, they expect to see a statesman, not a factional assassin.

“I thought it was also especially disrespectful of the deputy prime minister to put the prime minister in a terrible place where he was being asked to intervene. I didn’t think that was right either.

“I feel for supporters of our party, who went from the high of a Saturday and a terrific and tremendous win to the lows of factional grubbiness.”

Asked whether that was a fair assessment, Mr Marles called it a difficult process.

“I don’t accept that, these are collective processes, they are obviously difficult processes,” he said.

“I’m not about to go into the detail of how those processes unfold, other than to say they’re difficult and they’re difficult because you are choosing from amongst a very talented group of people for a limited number of spots.”

The acting Prime Minister and Defence Minister said he is “confident” the reshuffle has resulted in a “first rate ministry” and rejected concerns it could trigger a by-election, if Mr Dreyfus - who is 68 - decides to retire, after being relegated to the backbench.

“I’m not about to speculate on all of that again, all I would say is I very much acknowledge the service that Mark has provided,” Mr Marles said.

“He has every reason to feel very proud of the service that he has provided.”

Mr Dreyfus, who was first appointed Attorney-General in 2013 as part of the Gillard Government, is yet to publicly comment on his demotion.

He was replaced as Attorney-General by former Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, with his cabinet spot taken up 38-year-old Victorian MP Sam Rae - a former advisor to right-faction power broker Stephen Conroy - who was sworn-in as Aged Care and Seniors Minister.

Mr Marles said Labor’s election success meant there were lots of contenders for promotion.

“Ultimately it’s a very good problem to have,” he said.

Mr Marles was due to meet with Premier Roger Cook and WA Minister for Defence Industry Paul Papalia on Thursday, with progress on ship building infrastructure to support the AUKUS submarine fleet was on the agenda.

Perth’s Henderson shipyard is being transformed into a defence precinct, but so far only $127 million has been allocated for planning and design works for the project.

“There’s no hold up. Everything that we have been doing, in relation to the development of both Stirling (naval base) and the development of Henderson, we have been doing on time,” Mr Marles said.

“I’ve been a frequent visitor to Western Australia because this is such a significant centre of the evolution of AUKUS, fundamentally the operational capacity for us to operate our future submarines is being grown out of Perth.

“We are seeing action on all that right now . . . and we are really confident that that is going to roll out in the time that is required.”