Harriet Shing and Lily D'Ambrosio have announced they will not recontest their seats at the upcoming November election, opening up three vacancies in cabinet as Victorian Labor scrambles to reshuffle its own ranks. The departures land just after Jacinta Allan stood down as premier on Tuesday, and they expose how quickly the machinery of government turns over while the same party apparatus keeps managing the same hierarchy.
Who Has the Power
Ms Shing, a senior government minister and close ally of Jacinta Allan, said on Thursday that she would step down from cabinet and not seek re-election this November. Health minister Ms Shing was first elected in 2014, and she told new premier Ben Carroll that she was done with parliament. In her statement, she said she was proud of the party's achievements while in government, but that it was time to “pass these opportunities and obligations on to the next person.”
That language says plenty. The opportunities and obligations were never shared equally in the first place. They sat at the top, in cabinet, in caucus, in the hands of ministers who now get to decide who inherits the next round of managed decline and managed ambition. Ms Shing also said, “I have no doubt that the fight we bring to the coming months will continue to be grounded in the principles and priorities that drive all of us.” She added, “He deserves the full support, solidarity, and respect of the Cabinet, the Caucus, and our entire labour movement as he takes the Government forward and into the all-important contest against the Liberal Party and One Nation in November.”
Ms D'Ambrosio, meanwhile, reflected on her 24 years representing the seat of Mill Park and nearly four as “Australia's longest serving Energy and Climate Minister.” She said her proudest achievement was overseeing the energy transition to renewable power. When Labor returned to office in 2014, renewable power was less than 11 per cent, but now 45 per cent of the energy comes from renewable sources. “Where Victoria has gone, the rest of the country has followed,” she said.
Who Pays for the Shuffle
The people at the bottom don’t get cabinet seats. They get the consequences of the churn above them. Ms Shing held the second position on Labor’s upper house ticket at the 2022 election, which left her vulnerable to losing her place in parliament at the November election because Labor expects to suffer a swing. There has been persistent haggling over upper house positions, and some Labor figures argued that abolishing group voting tickets could shore up candidates in the second position.
That’s the electoral game in plain sight. The party machine argues over ticket placement, voting rules, and cabinet vacancies while ordinary people are told to treat it as democracy. The structure remains the same: a narrow set of insiders manage access, and everyone else waits for the next round of appointments.
Ms D'Ambrosio also said she hoped a local woman would replace her as the Labor candidate in Mill Park. She encouraged women and girls to follow their dreams in politics, saying, “I hope that my life in public service shows all girls what is possible for them no matter their faith, what they look like or the way they speak.” She added, “Always back yourselves and each other.”
What They're Calling Renewal
The resignations leave Mr Carroll with more cabinet arithmetic to sort out. He already had one cabinet position to fill after Ms Allan stepped down, which has been promised to Tim Richardson. The latest retirements mean there are now three vacancies in cabinet for the Left faction. A caucus meeting will be held on Monday to make new appointments, according to Mr Carroll, who said, “Portfolio arrangements will be confirmed very soon and the new Ministry will be sworn in shortly following.”
He also said Victorians were “calling for a new direction” and that he would deliver that. That’s the language of reform from inside the same structure that keeps recycling authority through caucus deals and ministerial appointments. The public gets slogans. The party gets the seats.
Premier Carroll thanked both his colleagues for their service. “Over many years of dedicated service, they have brought compassion, determination and a strong sense of purpose to their roles, delivering outcomes that have improved the lives of Victorians and strengthened the communities they represent,” he said.
Supporters from the institutional left lined up too. Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari described Ms D'Ambrosio as “a fierce fighter & hard working minister.” He said, “Everyone knows Lily is unrelenting, unstoppable force of nature.” He said Ms Shing “is a true believer, who put on her boxing gloves each morning to fight Liberals.” He added that she “played an important role in the struggle for equality, a lasting legacy for our great state.”
Environment Victoria, described as an independent not-for-profit organisation, congratulated Ms D'Ambrosio for “an incredible career as ... arguably [the] most effective climate and energy minister.” Chief executive Jono La Nauze said, “When D’Ambrosio came to office, Victoria had the dirtiest power system in the country and many thought rapid decarbonisation was next to impossible.” He said, “She not only proved the doubters wrong, her reforms saved Victorian households millions of dollars in the process.”
The praise is polished. The structure underneath it is not. Ministers come and go, factions haggle, tickets get shuffled, and the state keeps presenting the whole thing as progress while the same institutions decide who gets to speak, who gets to stay, and who gets pushed aside.