A former university executive has become Australia’s new shadow education minister, in a reshuffle sparked by factional strife in the opposition Liberal Party.

Julian Leeser has been shifted into the education portfolio after incumbent Jonathon Duniam was appointed shadow minister for home affairs.

Leeser was director of government, policy and strategy at the Australian Catholic University before his election to federal parliament in 2016. He had also worked as a lawyer, high court judge’s associate and executive director of the Menzies Research Centre, a Liberal Party-aligned thinktank.

A prominent Jewish member of parliament, he pressed for a judicial inquiry into antisemitism on campuses last year amid hostilities over the conflict in Gaza.

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Leeser was also a high-profile supporter of the Voice to Parliament, a proposed Indigenous advisory body. He quit the frontbench, where he had served as shadow attorney-general, over the party’s opposition to the proposal which was ultimately defeated in a 2023 referendum.

He was reinstated as shadow attorney-general following the Liberals’ election loss in May, and has now relinquished the position for a second time. In a statement, Leeser said he had “gladly accepted” his new post.

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“Having previously worked in the university sector, and served on education boards, I bring practical experience to this position and will focus on evidence-based reforms that lift standards from early learning, through to schools and into tertiary education.

“Education is nation-building. The choices we make today determine the Australia of tomorrow. Our higher education sector is in crisis, and universities continue to allow antisemitism to go unchecked.”

Representative body Universities Australia welcomed the appointment. “Mr Leeser has long understood the value of education and research to Australia’s future,” said chief executive Luke Sheehy. “We look forward to working closely with him and the [Liberal-National Party] Coalition to strengthen universities’ contribution to Australia’s prosperity, skills and national capability.”

Duniam, who had established a constructive working relationship with education minister Jason Clare, has filled a vacancy created by the 3 October resignation of then shadow home affairs minister Andrew Hastie.

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Hastie, who disagrees with party leader Sussan Ley on immigration policy, is considered a leadership aspirant in a party struggling for unity following the May election.

Melbourne MP Zoe McKenzie has retained her position as shadow assistant education minister.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com