Anthony Albanese announces front bench equally divided by gender

And he has been able to do so because of an enormous run of political luck.

Mr Albanese issued the usual inflated assurances of a front bench ready for government, recruited from an embarrassment of talent and experience.

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Labor leader Anthony Albanese announces his shadow cabinet.Source:Getty Images

But then he tossed in an unusual, unprecedented achievement. The shadow cabinet would be equally divided by gender — 50/50 men and women when cabinet secretary Senator Jenny McAllister is included in the calculation.

“There will be 12 men and 12 women sitting around the shadow Cabinet table. They are all there on merit — 12 men and 12 women,” Mr Albanese told reporters today.

He said it was “reflecting the balance in Australian society”.

This was followed with a quick reminder that the two senior members of the House of Representatives — himself and Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles — were matched by the all-female leadership of the Senate — Penny Wong and Kristina Keneally.

Senator Kristina Keneally.Source:News Corp Australia

It’s a remarkable set of figures but quite pointless if it is just for show — if the Cabinet is packed with non-performers merely to highlight that there are just seven women in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s cabinet.

And that is where Mr Albanese has been lucky.

The Labor Caucus contains a number of women with solid records who are shadow Cabinet newcomers.

Senator Keneally, Labor’s first ever Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, is a former NSW Premier who is no stranger to big government, and has shown recently she cannot be pushed around, even by her own faction.

Katy Gallagher, a former ACT chief minister who has gone federal, has a frontline economic post: Shadow Finance Minister serving with new Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers, as well as being shadow for hometown industry and the public service.

Shadow finance minister, Katy Gallagher. Picture: Kym SmithSource:News Corp Australia

They were added to female frontbenchers of considerable ability.

The other chunk of Albanese luck came when Scott Morrison put Stuart Robert in charge of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Mr Robert would at best have had only a glancing blow with the NDIS, but Mr Albanese had on hand someone who knew it in detail.

In fact, former leader Bill Shorten might be able to claim he put it together. Soon after his election in 2007, Mr Shorten was made parliamentary secretary for disabilities, and his declared objective was to bring about the NDIS.

Jim Chalmers.Source:News Corp Australia

Labor health spokesman, Chris Bowen.Source:AAP

It will be one of the more interesting match-ups to watch in Question Time — Robert vs Shorten.

Others will be Chalmers and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, and new Labor health spokesman Chris Bowen and Minister Greg Hunt.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Senator Keneally are not in the same chamber, but stand by for fireworks outside parliament.