Anthony Albanese ministry sworn into office at Government House
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has been sworn into office at a ceremony at Government House.
National
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Anthony Albanese’s ministry is being sworn in on Wednesday morning at Government House in Canberra.
One by one, Labor frontbenchers are standing before Governor General David Hurley to sign their commissions and take the oath of office, promising to serve the Commonwealth of Australia, “her land and her people”.
MPs are being sworn in order of seniority led by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles is first, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
The Prime Minister’s new lineup features a record number of women — 10 women in cabinet, 13 women in the ministry and 19 on the frontbench.
“We have a position whereby I think we have an overflow of talent on our side of the parliament,” Mr Albanese said on Tuesday night.
“This is an exciting team. It’s a team which is overflowing, I think, with talent; with people who are absolutely committed to making a difference as ministers.”
The cabinet is the most experienced incoming Labor government since federation, with over half the ministers having previous frontbench experience in government at the federal, state or territory level.
Mr Albanese said during the election campaign he intended to maintain the same team as in shadow ministry during the Morrison government’s tenure, which has largely remained true.
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles will take on the increasingly challenging defence portfolio, overseeing record spending at a time of increasing global tensions.
Senate leader Penny Wong had already been sworn in as Foreign Affairs Minister and begun her duties overseas.
Also already sworn in were Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who will also hold portfolios for Women and the Public Service.
Those in charge of spearheading Labor’s highly anticipated climate change strategy will be Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek.
Tony Burke will serve as leader of the House as well as Employment and Workplace Relations Minister and Arts Minister.
The Health and Aged Care portfolios will be held by Deputy Leader of the House Mark Butler.
Trade and Tourism Minister will be Deputy Senate leader Don Farrell.
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten will act as the minister overseeing the NDIS and Government Services.
Jason Clare will serve as Education Minister Education and Julie Collins will take on the portfolios for Housing, Homelessness and Small Business.
Australia’s Attorney-General will be Mark Dreyfus, who will also serve as Cabinet Secretary.
Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney will hold the Indigenous Australians ministership.
In addition, Mr Albanese announced Senator Pat Dodson will serve as a special envoy for reconciliation and the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
“This is a change which is long overdue, which we need to make and I can’t think of anyone better than Linda Burney as the Minister and Pat Dodson with that special responsibility to move forward,” Mr Albanese said.
Several women in the party have been elevated to senior positions as part of the cabinet shake-up.
Anne Aly will serve as early Childhood Education and Youth Minister, Anika Wells will take over Aged Care and Sport and Kristy McBain who will hold the Regional Development, Local Government and Territories portfolios.
Dr Aly has taken over a Left faction frontbench position vacated by Terri Butler who lost her Brisbane-based seat of Griffith to the Greens.
The new ministry has been sworn in before Mr Albanese flies to Indonesia on Sunday.
Mr Albanese on Tuesday addressed Labor senators and MPs at the first federal caucus since the party won the federal election.
“I want to remind you that you shouldn’t waste a day in government. We don’t intend to,” Mr Albanese said.
Full list of portfolios:
Jim Chalmers – Treasurer
Penny Wong – Senate Leader and Foreign Minister
Richard Marles – Deputy PM and Defence
Tanya Plibersek – Environment and Water
Jason Clare – Education
Katy Gallagher – Finance, Public Service and Women
Mark Dreyfus – Attorney-General and Cabinet Secretary
Tony Burke – Leader of the House, Employment and Workplace Relations and Arts
Don Farrell – Tourism and Travel and Special Minister of State
Clare O’Neil – Home Affairs
Amanda Rishworth – Social Services
Bill Shorten – NDIS and Government Services
Mark Butler – Health and Aged Care
Chris Bowen – Climate Change and Energy
Catherine King – Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
Madeleine King – Resources and Northern Australia
Brendan O’Connor – Skills and Training
Murray Watt – Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Emergency Management
Linda Burney – Indigenous Australians
Julie Collins – Housing, Homelessness and Small Business
Michelle Rowland – Communications
Ed Husic – Industry and Science
Stephen Jones – Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services
Anne Aly – Early Childhood Education and Youth
Kristy McBain – Regional Development, Local Government and Territories
Andrew Giles – Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
Matt Keogh – Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel
Pat Conroy – Defence Industry and International Development and the Pacific
Anika Wells – Sport and Aged Care
PM URGES COLLEAGUES TO WASTE NO TIME
The Prime Minister on Tuesday addressed Labor senators and MPs at the first federal caucus since they party won the federal election.
“I want to remind you that you shouldn’t waste a day in government. We don’t intend to,” he said.
Mr Albanese committed on behalf of his government to the implementation of the Uluru statement from the heart.
“Australians have placed their trust in us and that brings with it an enormous responsibility, an enormous responsibility to deliver on the commitments that we made, the commitments for which we have a clear mandate as part of a majority Labor government … and deliver we will.”
Mr Albanese said the world had noticed Australia’s government change, citing Penny Wong’s successful visit to Fiji and the Quad leaders’ statement welcoming Australia’s most ambitious 2030 carbon emissions target.
“We’re joining again the global effort, which we needed to do after nine wasted years,” he said.
Labor’s Left and Right factions met on Monday evening where they nominated their picks for the federal cabinet.
The new ministry will be sworn in by the Governor General on Wednesday.
Mr Albanese has formed a majority Labor government after Labor secured the Melbourne seat of Macnamara on Monday night with MP Josh Burns re-elected.
This means that Labor will hold at least 76 seats — the minimum required to form a majority government.
LITTLEPROUD WINS LEADERSHIP
David Littleproud has been elected the leader of the Nationals, defeating former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, while Peter Dutton has been elected leader of the Liberals – making the Coalition leadership an all-Queensland affair.
Senator Perin Davey from New South Wales will be the deputy leader.
In a statement, the former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce congratulated the new leadership team and warned they have “a mighty task ahead of them”.
“I suppose you think I am sad. Not really.
“I gave every ounce of my energy to make sure that I looked after the people of regional Australia, the people in the small family businesses, the people in the weatherboard and iron, the people on the farms.
“Now, I have a chance to get back to my second greatest love, after my family, and that is my beloved people of New England, where I will have more time to get around my electorate and to be a person of service to them.”
Mr Littleproud said he believed “passionately” in the Nationals and what the party could do for regional Australians.
“We are the conscience of rural and regional Australia right here in this Parliament. This is the proudest day of my professional life,” he said.
The journey to the 2025 election had begun, he said.
“The National Party today starts its journey towards 2025, with a vibrant team, ready to articulate the policies that are important to regional and rural Australia, but also to draw on the experience of two former deputy prime ministers in Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack, to build that bridge of unity and purpose, to make sure that regional and rural Australia isn’t forgotten here, to draw on the experience of those great men, not only those that are there, but those that have come before us, and these great women that stand here with me as the future of the National Party, in taking us forward to 2025,” he said.
Mr Littleproud had advised Mr Joyce he would nominate for the top job when the party meets in Canberra today.
“The legacy that both Barnaby and Michael have left is one that can be seen every day in regional and rural Australia, and for that they should be profoundly proud … and one that I need to build on, and my team needs to build on as a National Party,” Mr Littleproud said.
Ms Davey, the new deputy, said: “This is about the future. We are the team for the future of the National Party, building on the experience within our party room. In 2019, we held all of our seats under Michael McCormack. This year, we held all our seats under Barnaby Joyce. And next time, we will hold all our seats, and some, under David Littleproud.”
Mr Littleproud campaigned alongside Mr Joyce in the recent election and stormed to victory in his seat with almost 56 per cent of the primary vote.
His is considered to be the “safest Nationals seat in the country”, but even he had a slightly negative swing.
Asked about emissions reductions targets, and if the Nationals would make a commitment to live up to its climate pledge, the new leader said “we don’t believe in telling people what to do”.
“Australians have done it themselves. We have reduced emissions by 20 per cent since 2005 … we created an environment for the market to sort it out.
“We have made a sensible decision to be part of the global community. The global community asked us to sign up to net zero by 2050. Our plan is about technologies, not taxes, it’s making sure those people in rural and regional Australia don’t bear the brunt … That’s why I say what we bring to Canberra is common sense.
“We are moving forward on climate. We made that commitment and the Australian economy is moving forward on that … there’s a lot of emotion going around at the moment. There’s a lot of people who are hurting who have lost their job. We respect that. Part of the process in terms of us moving forward is to understand and to actually try and make sure that as a collective unit, whether that be the National Party and subsequent to that in the Coalition, make sure that we can clearly enunciate where we’re moving forward, how we’re moving forward, how that will change the lives of people not only in metropolitan Australia but rural and regional areas.”
Mr Littleproud said the National Party wouldn’t be “lurching left or lurching right, it’s using common sense and being in the sensible centre- that’s where you win elections — not chasing extremities.”
DUTTON THE NEW LIBS LEADER
Peter Dutton, the former defence minister, has become the leader of the Liberal Party with former environment minister Sussan Ley as his deputy.
The two MPs ran unopposed for their positions when the Liberals met at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.
Speaking for the first time after being elected unopposed by the party, Mr Dutton went straight to the offensive saying Labor would be “tough for the Australian people” and claimed they weren’t ready to govern.
“By the time of the next election in 2025. We will have presented a plan to the Australian people which will clean up Labor’s inevitable mess and lay out our own vision,” he said.
“We won’t be Labor-lite. We’ll propose strong policy to make the lives of Australians (better) and provide more security to them.
“Our policies will be squarely aimed at the forgotten Australians in the suburbs across Australia, under my leadership the Liberal Party will be true to our values that have seen us win successive elections over the course of the last quarter of a century.
“Make no mistake, and Australians understand this, the next three years under Labor is going to be tough for the Australian people.”
Former PM Scott Morrison told media he supports the new team and wished them luck. “It’s been a great privilege to lead the federal parliamentary Liberal party,” he said.
“They are incredibly experienced, well versed, are deeply committed Australians to both the Liberal cause and the cause of the nation and I think they’ll do an outstanding job and I look forward to giving them all of my full support,” he said.
“It was a good opportunity for me to thank my colleagues for their great loyalty and support over these past more than three-and-a-half years,” Mr Morrison said.
He also paid tribute to former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who didn’t win re-election.
“To do that both on my behalf and on behalf of my dear friend, Josh Frydenberg, we are all very sad he couldn’t be with us today and there was a rousing cheer for Josh as there should be. So to him and all the Liberal party supporters out there, thank you very much. It’s been a great privilege to lead the Liberal party and I hand over to Peter and Susan and wish them all the very best.
Queensland based MP Karen Andrews, the former Home Affairs Minister, said Mr Dutton should “be inclusive” when asked if she had any advice for him.
Ms Ley and Mr Dutton both entered federal parliament 2001 when they were elected to represent the regional NSW seat of Farrer and the suburban Brisbane electorate of Dickson respectively.
Mr Dutton saw off a challenge from Labor candidate Ali France to hold onto Dickson at this year’s federal election.
He is expected to become the first Queenslander to lead the Liberals and has vowed to reunite the party after it lost up to 20 seats.
The election wipe-out cost former federal treasurer and deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg – who had often been thought of as Mr Morrison’s natural successor – his seat of Kooyong.
After emerging as the next party leader and confirming he would nominate for the position, Mr Dutton has sought to reposition himself in the minds of voters.
The former police officer said Australians would regard him as tough because of the portfolios he had held within the Coalition government, including home affairs and most recently defence.
“Most people have only seen that side of me,” he wrote on Facebook.
“I hope now, in moving from such tough portfolios, the Australian public can see the rest of my character. The side my family, friends and colleagues see.”
Queensland LNP senator Gerard Rennick told waiting media at Parliament House on Monday morning that “Peter is a very nice guy, he’s very polite”.
“I think a lot of the image has actually been portrayed by people on the Left … I think the image that he’s got to somehow soften himself, I don’t think that’s really fair at all,” he said.
Outgoing home affairs minister Karen Andrews said Mr Dutton was “the only person who can lead us into the future”.
Ms Andrews said she thought Mr Dutton and Ms Ley would be “a terrific team” that could help the Liberals win back the six seats they lost to “teal” independents on May 21.
“I believe what you’ll see from the new leadership is that they’ll be very engaged in the community. We’re already starting to see that behind the scenes,” she said.
Former North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman, who lost his seat to the teal wave, said the Liberal opposition should support Labor’s short-term emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030.
“The opposition … has to recognise that having a sensible approach to climate change has to be at the top of the list,” he told ABC radio.
“I think that would be the sensible thing to do. I think it’s the democratic thing to do. And I think it would be an important signal that the Liberal Party has recognised that climate change was a factor in so many seats.”
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