Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has flagged possible changes to his frontbench if he wins the election - and his deputy Julie Bishop may lose the trade portfolio.
Unveiling his manufacturing policy on Wednesday, Mr Abbott pledged to appoint a minister for trade and competitiveness. Ms Bishop currently holds the trade portfolio alongside foreign affairs.
Mr Abbott confirmed Ms Bishop will keep the deputy Liberal leadership and foreign affairs, but made no commitment on trade.
"I suspect she has the potential - and I say this at the risk of upsetting Alexander Downer - to be Australia's best ever minister for foreign affairs," he told reporters in Brisbane.
Mr Abbott has previously said he would not reshuffle his frontbench if he were to win government but he has now softened his language, saying his team members will have "essentially" the same jobs.
"People who are in my time can expect to do more or less the same job in government, should we win, that they've done in opposition, because I've got a great team," he said.
"We've got to win an election first, I'm not talking about who's doing post-election jobs because that would be to tempt fate and that's not something I would want to do."
