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The MPs whose names you'll know by the end of 2017

James Massola

Politics is an occupation increasingly concerned with personalities as much as it is with policies.

Put the right person on a particular pitch and the policy proposition will generally be accepted by the public.

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A message from the leaders

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition leader Bill Shorten have put the arguing and disagreeing to one side and getting into the Christmas spirit.

Pick the wrong person – for example, the cigar-wielding, Fiji-holidaying, multiple-house-owning former treasurer Joe Hockey telling people the "age of entitlement is over" – and things can head south very rapidly.

Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten and their frontbenchers are the salesmen and women of choice at the moment and the faces best known to the public, as well as a handful of minor party senate leaders.

But the 2013 and 2016 elections resulted in an almost unprecedented wave of new MPs and senators being elected.

In 2013, 37 new faces entered the House of Representatives and 14 new faces entered the Senate – 51 new people in total. Another three MPs were elected at by-elections during the 44th Parliament, between 2013 and 2016.

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In 2016, 38 new faces entered House, including two MPs who returned after losing their seats, and another 16 new faces entered the Senate, including two returned faces who had lost their seats, and a couple of casual senate vacancies filled either side of the election – another 54 new people in total.

That's a total of 108 new people in the Parliament in a bit over three years and two election cycles. Today, there a total of 88 new faces (not counting the 20 who were elected in 2013 and lost in 2016) in a Parliament that contains 226 people, across both houses.

So who in the next generation of MPs are the rising stars – the politicians to watch in 2017? 

Liberal MP Michael Sukkar departs after the joint party room meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday 18 July 2016. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Liberal MP Michael Sukkar. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

On the Coalition side, Victorian MP Michael Sukkar is the first choice. Sukkar claimed the marginal seat of Deakin at the 2013 election and – countering the nationwide trend against the Coalition – increased his margin in 2016 with a strong campaign on the ground. The 35-year-old is a lawyer by training and worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ashurst Australia before entering Parliament. A rising star in the conservative wing of the party, he has fast developed a reputation as something of a fixer for Turnbull. He was instrumental in helping draft the wording of the defeated same-sex marriage plebiscite legislation so it was acceptable to conservatives. But Sukkar has also been vocal in criticising Coalition policy when he has felt it was in danger of straying too far from conservative positions. Widely considered the man most likely to next enter the junior ministry when the PM next shuffles his deck.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds was upset about the lack of answers from the Department of Communications and the Arts.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

What is it with strong women and Western Australia? Senator Linda Reynolds looks set to follow in the footsteps of high-flying colleagues Julie Bishop and Michaelia Cash. Reynolds has been around the Liberal Party for a long time and has a CV as long as your arm – ministerial chief of staff, project director at Canberra's Deep Space Communications facility, deputy federal Liberal director, Brigadier in the Army (if you don't mind). But she took her place in the Senate only after the 2014 poll. Since then, she has quickly carved out a name for herself on a number of Senate committees, including Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and with thoughtful opinion pieces for the Huffington Post. She is a force to be reckoned with in her home state and on track for a promotion – and we're tipping sooner, rather than later.

Member for Canning, Andrew Hastie, (top right) is one of the MPs with the most common name in Parliament.

Member for Canning, Andrew Hastie. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Also out of WA, Canning MP Andrew Hastie is rapidly making a name for himself since winning his seat in the 2015 byelection following the death of Don Randall. Like Sukkar, the 34-year-old is a young conservative to be reckoned with and a comfortable media performer, though still learning how party politics works. His criticism of the Coalition's "jobs and growth" slogan after the 2016 poll went down like a lead balloon in party HQ – but it was spot-on. And don't confuse the "call a spade a spade" plain speaking – perhaps a legacy of his years as a Captain in the SAS – with a lack of smarts. Hastie is a politician who is willing to engage publicly on matters of faith, the purpose of politics and the role of the state and civil society. Still earning his stripes, he is one to watch next year.

Liberal MP Tim Wilson during a division at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday 18 October 2016. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Liberal MP Tim Wilson. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Victorian MP for Goldstein Tim Wilson is the final Coalition MP on the list. He gained notoriety as George Brandis' hand-picked "freedom commissioner" back in 2013 – his years at the Institute of Public Affairs painted a big target on his forehead for the left – but Wilson performed well in the role. Entering the Parliament in 2016, he rapidly emerged as one of several young Liberal moderates on the rise, equally comfortable in front of a camera or in a fierce party room debate. The 36-year-old put down a major marker in late 2016, arguing supporters such as himself had "discharged" their responsibilities to vote for the plebiscite and foreshadowing a fresh push for a free vote. Expect to hear more on the issue in 2017. 

Labor MP Terri Butler moves to suspend standing orders at the end of Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 2 March 2016. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Labor MP Terri Butler. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Queensland Labor MP Terri Butler, who replaced Kevin Rudd in Griffith in early 2014, emerged as one of leading public voices opposing the same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2016. Already a shadow assistant minister, the former lawyer possesses the people skills her predecessor sorely lacked, a dry wit – her dating advice in parliament to Liberal MP Ian Goodenough was an instant YouTube classic – and presents like she was born in front of a camera. Butler is involved in ALP policy forums, helping shape party policy, and will go a long way.

Labor MP Anne Aly reacts to an answer by Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday 21 November 2016. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Labor MP Anne Aly. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Egyptian-born WA MP for Cowan Anne Aly survived a Liberal Party scare campaign on the way to being elected this year. The former university professor brings with her a Masters in Education, a PhD that focused on the media and terrorism, a list of publications and expertise on  countering violent extremism and radicalisation that few, if any, MPs can come near. She won her seat with one of the smallest margins in the country and since then, Australia's first female Muslim MP has taken to the public stage like a veteran. As she freely admits, she is a parliamentary novice – but as long as Aly can learn the arcane ways of the Labor Party, she will go far.

Rankin MP Jim Chalmers.

Rankin MP Jim Chalmers. Photo: Glenn Hunt

Another Queenslander, Rankin MP Jim Chalmers, is the final entry on the list. Another PhD, Chalmers' career has been that of the consummate insider – deputy chief of staff to Kim Beazley, chief of staff to treasurer Wayne Swan, election as an MP at just 35 back in 2013. But Chalmers – as he told this colum recently – tries to think like an outsider, and not lose sight of the needs of the people he represents in outer-suburban Brisbane. He is the only person on this list in the cabinet or shadow cabinet – so in a sense, his star has risen. But his rise has been so rapid that you may not yet have heard of him. That will change in 2017, we predict.

Lists like this always create howls of protest from those who missed out, and their supporters, on the merits of those spurned.

This list is by no means exhaustive – there's plenty of talent in the Parliament. Liberals Trent Zimmerman and Julian Leeser, both thoughtful newbies from NSW; Nationals Queensland MP George Christensen, if he learns to pick his battles; NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, who has flown under the radar but is a genuine talent; WA MP Tim Hammond, already on the way up; and ACT MPs Katy Gallagher and Andrew Leigh, already in the shadow ministry and likely to go further. South Australian Liberal MP Nicolle Flint and NXT MP Rebekha Sharkie are also worth keeping an eye on.

James Massola is chief political correspondent. Peter Hartcher is on leave.

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