On 23 January 2007, Smith was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, John Howard. He managed to hold his seat of Casey by a considerable margin at the federal election in November of that year, although the Liberal-National Coalition was defeated. On 22 September 2008, Smith was appointed Shadow Assistant Treasurer by Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull. Smith had previously been Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training. He was appointed Shadow Minister for Communications in a reshuffle which took place on 8 December 2009.