Mystery solved as Senator Dean Smith slips back into shadow charities portfolio

It’s good news after a mysterious week in which the sector wondered whether there even was a shadow minister for charities, with Angus Taylor’s new Opposition front bench taking shape last Tuesday without any mention of the word “charities”. The previous shadow charities minister, Senator Dave Sharma, was shuffled along to other duties without a replacement being named.

The lack of charities as a named portfolio led to angst and bemusement among sector leaders, but Smith told the Community Advocate it was a misunderstanding because Taylor had expanded the role of “assistant minister to the treasurer” to include charities, philanthropy, and the wider third sector – without mentioning those terms.

The man himself is ready to pick up where he left off.

“I've had a bit of a sabbatical – I was off doing energy and foreign affairs – and now I'm back in the Treasury portfolio,” Senator Smith told the Community Advocate. “People can have every confidence that I will bring the same level of energy and attention to issues that are important for the charities and not-for-profit sector as I did when I was in the role in the previous parliament.”

But not before a week of confusion over the miscommunication.

In the Community Council for Australia’s (CCA’s) Daily Diary email digest on Wednesday last week, CCA CEO David Crosbie wrote, “CCA has been in contact with both Senators Smith and Sharma (the two previous shadow ministers for charities) about who is the new Assistant Minister for Charities – both offices have told us they are seeking clarification.  We have also contacted the Shadow Treasurer’s office.”

By Friday, Crosbie was reporting that new shadow treasurer Tim Wilson was “finalising responsibilities” and would let CCA know when the assistant minister for charities position was confirmed.

As this was happening, the Labor Minister for Charities, Dr Andrew Leigh, had noticed there was no named shadow minister in his portfolio.

“I was pretty shocked by it,” he told the Community Advocate on Friday. “I think it's a quiet signal of loud indifference to Australia's 60,000 charities. I mean, we know the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments waged a nine-year-long war on charities, and scrapping the portfolio tells you exactly how they would behave if they were to come into government.”

Before Smith’s reappointment was confirmed, Leigh said it was astonishing that such an enormous economic and employment sector could be ignored. “I mean, it’s huge,” he said. “It’s nearly 10 per cent of GDP, more than 10 per cent of the workforce, millions of volunteers, and yet it doesn’t even merit a mention in the Coalition's ministry rundown.

“I find it really disappointing. It suggests that the Coalition haven't learned the lessons of their last term in government. They have an appalling track record of how they treated charities in government, and now, in opposition, they’re showing their colours again,” he said.

It was only on Monday this week that Daily Diary said the CCA had managed to confirm that Smith was indeed the shadow assistant minister for charities. 

At the time of writing, the official Commonwealth Directory page detailing shadow ministers still did not mention charities as a portfolio, nor did the Liberal Party’s shadow ministry directory.

But Smith said there was always going to be a shadow minister for the charities sector.

“The shadow assistant minister to the shadow treasurer covers everything in the treasury portfolio – competition, philanthropy, not-for-profits, charities, competition law, a whole range of things, so it's all-encompassing,” he said. “I totally reject the idea that not having charities in my title should be a concern for the sector.

“I think the sector should be very excited about the fact that they’ve got an experienced senator who was always available and present, responding to charity sector issues.”

Confirming Smith’s return on Monday, Crosbie welcomed the news. “Senator Smith knows the portfolio well and represented the Coalition in the National Press Club Pre-election Forum on Charities and NFPs along with Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh,” he said. “Senator Smith also played a key role in gaining an exemption for charities in the fixed term contracting legislation.”

While Smith showed energy for his role and sought to build relationships with charity leaders in his time as shadow minister, his replacement from June last year until last week, Senator Dave Sharma, was something of an invisible man.

The Community Advocate wrote to or called Sharma’s office at least eight times in seven months to request an interview to hear his views and vision for the charity sector, but never received a reply.