Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced his appointments to Ministerial positions, revealing a shake-up of portfolios.
During the election campaign Albanese has stated that he expected the ministerial positions to be filled by members of his team who had served as the opposing Shadow Ministers in opposition, but the loss of both Terri Butler and Kristina Kenneally had triggered a more substantial change when handing out the assignments.
Announcing who would take on each role, Albanese had a light-hearted moment, confirming he would be the Prime Minister.
As previously announced Deputy Leader Richard Marles will serve as Minister for Defence, Penny Wong will take on Foreign Affairs, while also being Leader in the Senate, Jim Chalmers will be Treasurer and Katy Gallagher Finance Minister. Gallagher will also serve as Minister for Women, the Public Service and Vice President of the Executive Council.
Claire O’Neil gets a big promotion taking on Home Affairs as well as Cybersecurity.
Senator Don Farrell will be the Minister for Trade and Tourism, as well as Special Minister of State. Tony Burke is Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Arts, and will be the Leader of the House.
Mark Butler is Minister for both Health and Aged Care, Chris Bowen takes on Climate Change and Energy, while in a surprise move Tanya Plibersek will be responsible for Environment and Water. Plibersek had covered the portfolio of Education in opposition and was widely expected to continue in the role.
Catherine King is Minister for Infrastructure, Regional Development and Local Government. Linda Burney is Minister for Indigenous Affairs, while former Labor leader Bill Shorter will look after the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Government Services.
The new Attorney General is Mark Dreyfus, while Brendan O’Connor will looks after Skills and Training.
Education falls to Jason Clare. Under the previous government there had been four different Minister since to 2015 with Simon Birmingham, Dan Tehan, Alan Tudge and Stuart Robert all spending time in the role.
Amanda Rishworth will be Minister for Social Services, Julie Collins is Minister for Housing, Homelessness and also takes on Small Business. Michelle Rowland is the new Communications Minister.
Senator Murray Watt will look after Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Emergency Management. Ed Husic will be Minister for Industry and Science.
Western Australian Matt Keogh will be Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel, Pat Conroy has been assigned Defence Industry and International Development and the Pacific.
Stephen Jones will be Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, and Andrew Giles will handle Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. New faces in the Ministry include Anne Aly who has been awarded Early Childhood Education and Youth, Anika Wells gets Aged Care and Sport, and Kristy McBain takes on Regional Development, Local Government and Territories.
The appointments see the greatest ever number of women in cabinet, and also included the appointment of the first Ministers who follow the Muslim faith.
The Prime Minister announced earlier in the day that Parliament would reconvene in July. Prior to this it is expected that an announcement will be made about who will serve in the role of Speaker of the House.
This morning Labor claimed victory in the seat of Macnamara, giving it the required 76 seats to govern in a majority. It is also predicted that Labor will add one more seat to their tally once final votes are counted in the New South Wales seat of Gilmore.
OIP Staff
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