Overseas travel by senior ministers means Treasurer Jim Chalmers will be acting PM for a brief stint on Wednesday, and then Penny Wong gets a turn.
Australia will get two acting prime ministers this week, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Foreign Minister Penny Wong filling in while Anthony Albanese is out of the country.
Dr Chalmers will be acting PM for a few hours on Wednesday when Mr Albanese and Senator Wong participate in the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji. Under Cabinet’s order of precedence, Senator Wong – who is also the government’s Senate leader – is the third most senior minister, while Dr Chalmers is ranked fourth.There is a recent precedent for the fourth ranked minister to be acting prime minister, although it is rare.in 2018 while Malcolm Turnbull and then deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop was out of the country, while then deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was on leave following the revelation of an affair with a pregnant staffer.
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