Former United States ambassador Joe Hockey is pushing former opposition leader Peter Dutton to be Australia’s next top diplomat in Washington DC, as a Labor powerbroker withdraws from the contest.
Former communications minister Stephen Conroy, a powerful figure within the Victorian Labor right, had been discussed as a possible successor to Kevin Rudd but ruled himself out of contention on Wednesday.
Former opposition leader Peter Dutton has been suggested as a possible ambassador to the United States.Credit: AP
Hockey, who served as Australia’s US ambassador from 2016 to 2020, said it would be a “no-brainer” for Albanese to appoint Dutton, the man he defeated in last year’s federal election, to the prestigious posting.
“The Australian people would see it as smart and magnanimous,” Hockey, a former treasurer, told this masthead.
The case for Dutton is that, as a well-known conservative warrior, he would be a good cultural fit with the populist Trump administration.
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While Albanese and Dutton get along well personally despite their political differences, it would still be remarkable for him to appoint his former chief political opponent to the role.
There would also be questions about how well Dutton could prosecute Labor’s centre-left agenda, and his choice would prove contentious with the Labor base.
In recent years, governments have appointed former senior politicians from their side of politics to the diplomatic postings in Washington and London, a trend Albanese continued by appointing former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in November.
