Henderson has expressed clear disappointment over the decision, as new Liberal leader Sussan Ley unveiled the Party’s new-look ministry on Wednesday.

Tasmanian senator Jonathon Duniam has been appointed to the education portfolio.

Henderson was not the only high-profile woman left out of Ley’s frontbench lineup, with Jane Hume, who has held the finance portfolio, also sent to the backbench.

Henderson outlined her displeasure with the changes in a statement.

“I regret that a number of high performing Liberal women have been overlooked or demoted in the new ministry.

“Today, I am more determined than ever to fight for Australian women which must start with a comprehensive policy platform.   

“I understand how important strong, principled policy is to our nation’s future.”

Eleven of the shadow cabinet positions under former leader Peter Dutton were filled by women, but this has been brought down to eight in Ley’s shadow cabinet of 23.

Speaking to Channel Nine, Ley backed the changes.

"Forty per cent of my shadow ministry are women. Of course I want to see more women in my party room every single day," she said.

"As a woman leader, that sends a signal to women. But I will be there at the table for all the big calls."

At a press conference announcing the new frontbench, Ley told reporters the lineup “balances experience with new talent”.

"Our team is one of strivers and optimists, of leaders and listeners. We have voices from the city to the bush. People who went to university and those who got a trade,” she said.

Henderson has held the education portfolio for three years, over which time she has called for explicit teaching to be made mandatory in all schools, and taken aim at the Australian Curriculum’s ‘deficiencies’.

In February Henderson said the Coalition had consistently sounded alarm bells about the curriculum which was ‘overcrowded, too complex and infused with ideology’, and warned primary school principals from every sector were reporting it was “impossible to teach”.

Henderson drew particular issue with the cross-curriculum priorities, arguing Coalition analysis showed there were nearly 2,500 ways for teachers to weave in sustainability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, and Australia’s engagement with Asia in lessons.

“While learning Indigenous history and culture is vital to every child’s education, the requirement to embed cross-curriculum priorities in every subject flies in the face of world-leading curricula which is focused on the core knowledge students need to excel at school,” Henderson said at the time.

Speaking with EducationHQ in 2023, she criticised the ‘really poor leadership’ on the part of Federal Education Minister Jason Clare in pushing for the adoption of evidence-based teaching approaches in all classrooms.  

“We’ve seen a really poor lack of leadership from [Clare] on something that we know works…”

Henderson indicated her frustration lay in the fact that it was already well established that explicit instruction trumps ‘loose’ inquiry learning.

“We know how to fix this. The evidence is in: evidence-based teaching and learning works, and where it’s been adopted students are thriving, schools are thriving.

“There’s much better teacher satisfaction, there is better discipline in the class, and there is profoundly better student outcomes.”

Prominent school leader and author Dr Greg Ashman thanked Henderson for her service to education in a post on X. 

 

The shadow ministry was revealed after a Nationals party meeting officially signed off on re-forming the Coalition, just over a week after it had split in dramatic fashion.

As Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow at University of Canberra, noted in a piece for The Conversation, “For Ley, the shadow frontbench reflects a juggling act of rewarding supporters while seeking to not excessively alienate those who opposed her”.

Henderson said she was “very proud” of her work in the education portfolio, including the Coalition’s plan to return Australia to a “top ten education nation, underpinned by an uncompromising commitment to explicit instruction and evidence-based teaching”.

“The Coalition's education policies, though not prominent during the election campaign, offer serious solutions to raise education standards, better support teachers and students including Indigenous children in remote communities, fix the national curriculum and improve the standard of teacher training,” she added.

“This is work to which I remain passionately committed. I won’t give up on my mission to ensure every young Australian achieves his or her best potential.”