A front bench of 48!

The Australian reports:

Labor has been ridiculing Turnbull for the size of his cabinet and last week Tanya Plibersek said it was a sure sign his authority had been shattered — in words that now say as much about her leader as the PM.

“He’s had to appoint all his friends and all his enemies to the frontbench to try and keep peace … that’s an extraordinary approach — just give everybody a job and hope that they’ll stay happy,” she thundered on Tuesday. “The make-up of this frontbench shows that he is worried that his colleagues are coming after him.”

Shorten expanded not just his shadow ministry to 32 but appointed 16 parliamentary secretaries to match the government’s 12 and has adopted Turnbull’s language by designating them shadow assistant ministers.

That brings Labor’s frontbench to a staggering 48 — one of the biggest ever and six more than the government’s 42. What was that about giving everyone a job and hoping they’ll stay happy?

When other prizes are handed out, such as the six people who have the job of whips plus the deputy speaker and deputy Senate president along with formal caucus posts, that’s another 11 positions.

That’s ridiculously large.

Still at least doing better than UK Labor which doesn’t even have 40 MPs willing to serve in a shadow cabinet!