LUKE RAPT WITH PROMOTION TO SHADOW CABINET

... we’ve been bashing our heads against the wall trying to open up more housing

ROOKIE Labor MLC Luke Edmunds says he is “really rapt” to have been elevated to the shadow cabinet as the Opposition embarks on a frontbench shake-up.

Mr Edmunds, who was elected to the upper house seat of Pembroke last year and is a former Clarence councillor, has been tasked with handling the local government, planning, and disability portfolios.

Deputy Labor Leader Anita Dow has relinquished local government and planning to focus more on the health portfolio, while Rumney MLC

Sarah Lovell will hand over responsibility for disability.

Mr Edmunds said he was “looking forward to working hard in all those portfolios”, identifying a number of key priorities he wanted to focus on.

“We saw while I was on [Clarence] Council that we had to stand up and fight against the state government when they introduced the bin tax, which is going to cost … this municipality $1m a year in the next four years,” he said.

“That was a stealth tax that we fought hard against. Unfortunately it was still implemented.

“In planning, we’ve been bashing our heads against the wall trying to open up more housing in this community but also now obviously we can look at doing it around the state.”

Mr Edmunds has a child with a disability and said it was “incredibly frustrating” trying to navigate support systems.

“I’m looking forward to taking a practical approach to that because there’s a lot of work that can be done in that system,” he said.

Labor leader Rebecca White said Mr Edmunds’ life experience made him an ideal fit for his new portfolios.

“His experience on Clarence

Council for approximately four years has given him an excellent insight into the role of local government and the role of planning and building a strong community and economy,” she said.

“He also has lived experience with disability and is able to be a strong advocate to see improvements in access to services for people with disability living in our community.”

Government minister Felix Ellis said the make-up of Labor’s frontbench team was “totally up to them”.

“If they’re continually divided, I can’t see things getting much better for the Opposition,” he said.