(Bloomberg) -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has shaken up the leadership of crucial portfolios including immigration and housing in his first major Cabinet reshuffle since winning office in 2022, as he prepares for a closely-fought election that must be held in the next 10 months.
Tony Burke was sworn into a new mega portfolio on Monday incorporating both the home affairs and immigration ministries, highlighting the important role migration will play in the upcoming election. Current Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil switched to the housing portfolio to tackle a growing residential property crisis in parts of the country.
Albanese has been looking for an opportunity to promote high-performing ministers and move others who have struggled in their portfolios. The reshuffle was sparked by the planned retirements of Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor. The new ministry was sworn into office by Governor-General Sam Mostyn on Monday.
Here are other key Cabinet changes:
- Murray Watt will become the new minister for employment and workplace relations, a promotion for the senator who was seen as a high performer in the cabinet
- Julie Collins will shift from the housing ministry to take on the agriculture, fisheries and forestry portfolio
- Senator Malarndirri McCarthy will become minister for Indigenous Australians
- Burke will also become minister for cybersecurity. He retains his existing role as arts minister, leaving him with four portfolios in addition to his role as leader of the lower house
- Andrew Giles will be minister for skills and training, after losing the immigration portfolio following a series of controversies including an unfavorable high court ruling against the country’s migration detention system
The center-left Labor government has a narrow lead over the opposition Liberal-National coalition in opinion polls ahead of an election due by May. There has been speculation the prime minister could go to the polls early if there is an uptick in the economic outlook.
Surveys show Australians are increasingly frustrated with the economic backdrop as they grapple with rising prices and elevated interest rates. Inflation data on Wednesday will be closely watched for its implications for monetary policy and, in turn, election timing.
Albanese has sought to make a virtue of his government’s relative stability in comparison with Australia’s chaotic political scene over the previous dozen years, which saw prime ministers from both sides removed from office by disgruntled colleagues.
If Albanese wins the upcoming election, he will be the first Australian leader to secure consecutive victories since 2004.
“Good governments aim high and work hard and draw on a diversity of talent and that certainly is what drives me and that is what drives the changes I’m announcing,” Albanese said after unveiling the new ministry.
(Updates with swearing-in ceremony.)
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