Labor’s cabinet has been sworn in. Here’s a who’s who of ministers

A little over a week after Labor claimed victory at the federal election, the new government’s first full cabinet has been sworn in.

When compared to the Coalition’s previous few cabinets, there are noticeably more women this time around, and Labor’s cabinet is also more diverse.

Because Labor is split into left and right factions, the two sides have a power-sharing agreement as to the makeup of the front bench.

It’s then up to the Prime Minister to actually allocate individual portfolios.

And although Labor hasn’t been in government since 2013, almost half of the new cabinet have experience as government ministers.

Here are the faces of the new Labor cabinet.

Anthony Albanese

Prime Minister

• MP for Grayndler, NSW
• Left faction

Most of the country should know who Anthony Albanese is by now, given he’s the new Prime Minister. Under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard he was the minister for transport and infrastructure, plus minister for regional development. Mr Albanese belongs to the party’s left-wing faction but ran a comparatively centrist campaign.

Richard Marles

Deputy Prime Minister

Minister for Defence

• MP for Corio, Victoria
• Right faction

As deputy Labor leader, Richard Marles was always going to be Deputy Prime Minister. He’s also the current minister for defence, and had a very brief stint as minister for trade during Kevin Rudd’s second time as PM in 2013.

Penny Wong

Minister for Foreign Affairs

• Senator for South Australia
• Left faction

Penny Wong is a stalwart of the Labor Party and has been a senator for 20 years. She served as the minister for climate change and minister for finance under the Rudd and Gillard governments and was the Labor leader in the Senate after that. As Australia looks to repair several key relationships in the region, Ms Wong, who was born in Malaysia, becomes the first Asian foreign minister and the first openly lesbian front bencher.

Jim Chalmers

Treasurer

• MP for Rankin, Queensland
• Right faction

Jim Chalmers worked as an adviser to several state premiers and federal ministers – all from the Labor Party – before his own tilt at Parliament in 2013. He even wrote his PhD thesis on Paul Keating. Mr Chalmers’ wife was a staffer for Julia Gillard, who also attended the couple’s wedding.

Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, Linda Burney and Jim Chalmers. Photo: Getty

Katy Gallagher

Minister for Finance

Minister for the Public Service

Minister for Women

• Senator for the ACT
• Left faction

Katy Gallagher spent more than a decade in ACT politics before moving into federal politics in 2019. From 2011 to 2014, she even served as chief minister of the ACT – the territory’s equivalent of a premier. Before that, Ms Gallagher was an organiser for the Community and Public Sector Union, which represents government employees, among others.

Don Farrell

Minister for Trade and Tourism

• Senator for South Australia
• Right faction

Don Farrell is a long-time senator and former head of the retail union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. When he briefly considered a pivot to state politics in 2014, Labor premier Jay Weatherill threatened to resign. Mr Farrell was one of only a few parliamentarians to abstain from the marriage equality vote in 2017.

Tony Burke

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations

Minister for the Arts

• MP for Watson, NSW
• Right faction

Tony Burke previously held several portfolios under the Rudd and Gillard governments including agriculture, sustainability and multicultural affairs. His electorate includes the diverse suburbs of Western Sydney. He was previously an organiser for the retail union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association.

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Mark Butler

Minister for Health and Aged Care

• MP for Hindmarsh, South Australia
• Left faction

Mark Butler was the minister for mental health and ageing under the Rudd and Gillard governments, and later held several other portfolios for a shorter period. Mr Butler helped Mr Albanese’s bid to become Labor leader in 2013, only for him to lose to Bill Shorten. Before entering politics, he held a senior role in the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union.

Chris Bowen

Minister for Climate Change and Energy

• MP for McMahon, NSW
• Right faction

Chris Bowen is a long-time Labor parliamentarian and held numerous portfolios under the Rudd and Gillard governments, working all the way up to becoming treasurer in 2013 before Labor’s defeat. A few years before entering federal politics, he was the mayor of Fairfield in Sydney’s west.

Tanya Plibersek

Minister for the Environment and Water

• MP for Sydney, NSW
• Left faction

Tanya Plibersek is the other top member of Labor’s left faction, after Mr Albanese. She was deputy opposition leader under Bill Shorten and was widely viewed as a potential candidate for party leader. Ms Plibersek held five portfolios at different times under the Rudd and Gillard governments, including health, women and human services. She was first elected to Parliament in 1998 at the age of 28.

Dr Anne Aly with Tanya Plibersek. Photo: Getty

Catherine King

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

• MP for Ballarat, Victoria
• Left faction

Catherine King is another long-time Labor MP who has served since 2001. She was the minister for both regional Australia and road safety under the Rudd and Gillard governments.

Linda Burney

Minister for Indigenous Australians

• MP for Barton, NSW
• Left faction

Linda Burney is a Wiradjuri woman who has previously held senior positions in the NSW state government cabinet and rose to deputy opposition leader shortly afterwards. She pivoted to federal politics at the 2016 election. Ms Burney is the first woman to hold the portfolio of Indigenous Affairs, and only the second Aboriginal person to do so after outgoing minister Ken Wyatt. The incoming assistant minister for Indigenous Australians is Yanyuwa woman Senator Malarndirri McCarthy.

Amanda Rishworth

Minister for Social Services

• MP for Kingston, South Australia
• Right faction

As minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth will oversee mental health support, among other things. She was a practising psychologist before entering Parliament in 2007. However, before that, she was an organiser for the SDA and served as the president of Young Labor in 2000.

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Bill Shorten

Minister for the NDIS

Minister for Government Services

• MP for Maribyrnong, Victoria
• Right faction

Bill Shorten was the former opposition leader, who led Labor through two elections. At the 2016 election Labor gained several seats but it wasn’t enough to beat the Coalition, while in 2019 the party also lost despite polls pointing to a Labor victory. Since then he’s been relegated to a less prominent role in the cabinet.

Mark Dreyfus

Attorney-General

Cabinet Secretary

• MP for Isaacs, Victoria
• Right faction

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus briefly held cabinet positions during Kevin Rudd’s second stint. Before entering politics in 2007, Mr Dreyfus had roughly 20 years of experience a barrister across commercial, defamation, constitutional and environmental law. He’s also served as a director of the Law Council of Australia and sat on the Victorian Bar Council.

Brendan O’Connor

Minister for Skills and Training

• MP for Gorton, Victoria
• Left faction

Brendan O’Connor has been in Parliament since 2001 and held numerous portfolios under the Rudd and Gillard governments, including home affairs, employment and human services. In the 1990s, he was assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Union.

Jason Clare

Minister for Education

• MP for Blaxland, NSW
• Right faction

Jason Clare was previously the minister for home affairs, minister for justice and minister for defence materiel under the Rudd and Gillard governments. Before entering Parliament he was a senior adviser to former NSW premier Bob Carr.

Julie Collins

Minister for Housing

Minister for Homelessness

Minister for Small Business

• MP for Franklin, Tasmania
• Left faction

Julie Collins is the only Tasmanian in the cabinet, and the only Labor parliamentarian not to have finished high school. She began working for the Labor Party as an administrative assistant at a young age in 1987, before taking on a slew of different state roles for Labor politicians, premiers and government departments.

Michelle Rowland

Minister for Comunications

• MP for Greenway, NSW
• Right faction

Michelle Rowland entered Parliament in 2010, while Labor was in opposition. She previously worked as a senior telecommunications lawyer and has also been a mayor and healthcare director.

With 10 women in cabinet, Anthony Albanese claimed to have “largest number of women ever in an Australian cabinet”. That number climbs to 19 women when including the outer cabinet and assistant ministers. Photo: Getty

Madeleine King

Minister for Northern Australia

Minister for Resources

• MP for Brand, Western Australia
• Right faction

Madeleine King is the most recently elected member of the cabinet, entering Parliament in 2016. She is also the only Western Australian. Ms King was a lawyer and political adviser.

Murray Watt

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Minister for Emergency Management

• Senator for Queensland
• Left faction

Murray Watt was elected as a senator in 2016, but prior to that he was an MP in the Queensland state parliament. He initially worked in law before entering the public service and ultimately working as chief of staff to former Queensland premier Anna Bligh.

Ed Husic

Minister for Industry and Science

• MP for Chifley, NSW
• Right faction

Ed Husic once worked as a researcher for former Chifley MP Roger Price, and took over his seat when Mr Price retired at the 2010 election. He became involved with the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia and became national president before entering Parliament. He is of Bosnian descent and was the first Muslim to be elected federally.

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Clare O’Neil

Minister for Home Affairs

Minister for Cyber Security

• MP for Hotham, Victoria
• Right faction

In 2004, at the age of 23, Ms O’Neil was elected mayor of Dandenong, which makes her the youngest female mayor in Australian history. Two years later she was awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study a master of public policy at Harvard University in the US. Ms O’Neil worked as a manager at McKinsey & Company before being elected to Parliament.

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June – The University of Sydney

01 June 2022

Doctor of Letters awarded to Professor Emerita Margaret Harris

Margaret Harris, a long-standing member of the University community, was recently admitted into the degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) for her outstanding contribution to the arts, both in Australia and internationally.

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Australian river filled with millions of dead fish as residents complain of ‘putrid’ smell

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Anthony Albanese presents Boris Johnson with South Sydney Rabbitohs jacket during meeting in Europe – as pair discuss AUKUS

Anthony Albanese presented Boris Johnson with a South Sydney Rabbitohs jacket during the pair’s “breakfast meeting” held on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Spain. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gifted his UK counterpart Boris Johnson with a jacket from his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs as the two leaders met face-to-face for the first time since May’s Federal Election.  

Mr Albanese presented Mr Johnson with the jacket as the pair held a “breakfast meeting” on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain.

The Australian leader said he discussed the new trilateral defence and security pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom with Mr Johnson.  

“I spoke about AUKUS and our support for AUKUS, as well the Australia UK Free Trade Agreement which we hope to come into effect later this year, but also the important relations that we have between our two nations,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

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Mr Johnson had expressed his gratitude for the support Australia has given to Ukraine, which has included $285 million in military equipment and $65 million of humanitarian support.

“What a wonderful thing it is to see you here in NATO. What a progressive development for our alliance,” he said as the pair shook hands and took photos.

“Thank you particularly for the incredible strength that Australia has shown in Ukraine. You’ve really stepped up to the plate.” 

The meeting with Mr Johnson was a number of discussions Mr Albanese held with world leaders while in Madrid for the summit, which he has been attending after Australia was invited as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner.

Mr Albanese has also spoken with the prime ministers of Belgium and Spain, the Secretary General of NATO, the presidents of the European Commission and European Council and had a “very constructive discussion” with French President Emmanuel Macron.

“Last night was a real opportunity for Australia to engage in a less than formal setting with a range of people from President Macron, President Biden, Olaf Scholz, a range of the leaders who were there,” he said. 

“I took the opportunity to talk about Australia’s national interest, to talk about our different plans. One of the things that is clear to me is that the whole world has noticed that Australia has a different position on climate change.

“What that does is give Australia a seat at the global table of opportunity and I intend to seize that opportunity.” 

While in Spain for the NATO summit, Mr Albanese lashed out at China for their failure to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“What we saw is prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we saw a without limits partnership between Russia and China,” he said. 

“We’ve seen a failure of China to condemn any of the Russian aggression that has occurred against Ukraine.

“China must look at what is happening and look at the resolve that is there from throughout the world and should be condemning Russia’s actions.” 

Meanwhile, NATO for the first time declared China a “challenge” ahead of its expansion after formally inviting two nations to join the alliance – Sweden and Finland.

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Duke Welcomes Sydney Romero to Coaching Staff

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DURHAM – Duke softball head coach Marissa Young has announced the hiring of four-time national champion Sydney Romero as an assistant coach.
 
Romero will serve as the team’s hitting and infield coach.
 
“Who better to help take our program to the next level than someone who has won two national championships as a player and two more as a coach than Sydney Romero,” Young said. “She is one of the brightest young coaches that embodies our core values, is passionate about player development and brings a championship mindset as a proven winner. I know Sydney is going to have an immediate impact on our players and I am thrilled they get to learn from one of the best to play the game. We look forward to welcoming Sydney to Durham.”
 
Romero joins the program after serving as a graduate assistant coach at her alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, for the past two seasons, following her prolific collegiate career.
 
“I am really excited for this opportunity to working alongside Coach Young,” Romero said. “I am so appreciative to be a part of this prestigious university. I can’t wait to represent this program and get to work. Go Duke!”
 
As a graduate assistant at Oklahoma, Romero helped the program win back-to-back national titles, with the latest coming last month. Oklahoma’s staff was named the 2022 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year, after going 59-3 overall on the season.
 
In addition to serving as a graduate assistant, Romero has continued to play softball professionally, competing with Athletes Unlimited since 2020. Prior to her time with AU, Romero was the third overall pick in the 2019 National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) Draft by the USSSA Pride, where she was named to the 2019 All-NPF Team.
 
A highly accomplished collegiate athlete, Romero made waves in her time as a Sooner, earning two first team All-America selections and winning two national championships in 2016 and 2017. Romero was named the 2019 Big 12 Player of the Year and was a top-three finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award in the same season. She finished her career as the program’s all-time leader in at-bats and doubles.
 
A native of San Diego, Calif., Romero recently finished her master’s degree in adult and higher education with an emphasis in intercollegiate athletics administration, from Oklahoma. Romero also earned her undergraduate degree from Oklahoma, majoring in criminology. Romero comes from an athletic family, as her sister Sierra was a three-time softball All-American at Michigan, and her brother Michael is set to begin his collegiate baseball career at LSU in the fall.
 
To stay up to date with Blue Devils softball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “https://goduke.com/news/2022/7/1/DukeSOFTBALL”.
 
#GoDuke
 

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National cabinet to discuss Medicare, hospital funding; robo-debt inquiry continues

As regular readers of this blog will know, national cabinet is meeting at 9am in Canberra.

State and territory leaders are due to start arriving in the next little while and we’ll be sure to bring you any comments they make before the meeting.

In the meantime, the Grattan Institute’s Professor Stephen Duckett – a member of the government’s strengthening Medicare taskforce – was on Radio National to talk about what kind of reforms are needed.

Professor Stephen Duckett.Credit:Jeremy Piper

He said the $250 million in funding flagged by Labor during the federal election campaign isn’t enough to fix Australia’s healthcare system.

Host Patricia Karvelas wanted to know: How much, then, is actually needed?

Here was Duckett’s response:

Well, the College of GPs and the AMA say they want $2 billion tomorrow. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. But I think we are talking about a billion or more going into the primary healthcare system over time.

I think it will take a couple of years for the foundations to be established. So maybe going into the next election the government ought to be making a commitment to put a lot more money into the system.

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Why companies shouldn’t air their dirty social issue washing in public

“It’s great that the corporations are adopting this but let’s remember where the real credit goes,” Rhodes says. “The heroes are the citizens who make change from the ground up.”

Corporate support for climate change, the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements have been embraced, but some companies have been called out for hypocrisy.

Nike advertising featuring Colin Kaepernick.Credit:AP

RMIT University marketing lecturer Dr Amanda Spry says Nike’s slick “Dreams Crazy” advertising campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was contrasted with a lack of black people on the company board. Proctor and Gamble’s razor brand Gillette tackled toxic masculinity, but its campaign was described as virtue signalling because the company charged higher prices for women’s shavers than it did for men’s.

Rhodes points out that women who have accused men in significant positions of power of sexual abuse and violence are the ones who have courageously faced ferocious scrutiny and put their careers at risk. Likewise, the African American protestors have battled for decades, risking their lives on the streets, to campaign for their civil rights. Qantas may have supported same-sex marriage, but its executives didn’t have to face the risk of physical violence in a street march. “Corporations might amplify [a social issue] and cash in, but we have to remember that real political change comes from citizens,” Rhodes says.

Flare tower of Woodside’s Pluto LNG plant in WA with an Indigenous rock engraving of an echidna in the foreground.

Spry defines woke washing as inauthentic brand activism – when a company takes a stand on a social/political issue such as gender equality, racism or climate change, but fails to back it up with their actions and values.

“This is the new frontier of corporate social responsibility,” she says. “Brand activism is more controversial and polarising.

“It comes down to perceptions of authenticity. Are you walking the talk, are you practising what you preach?”

Woodside Energy presents itself as sensitive to Indigenous culture, but has faced criticism over its treatment of sites containing Aboriginal rock art. “That sits in stark contrast to them offering their employees the choice of whether to work on Australia day,” Spry says.

A Woodside spokeswoman says the company works closely with Aboriginal elders and Indigenous communities, showing respect for their culture and values. The company’s approach to the environment, she says, is based on science and complies with environmental laws and regulations.

“Peer-reviewed research has not identified any impacts on Murujuga rock art from industrial emissions associated with liquefied natural gas production,” the spokeswoman said.

Telstra says it engages on topics that matter to people and which are aligned to its purpose and values. “When we do say something, we also take action,” a company spokesman says. “Reconciliation is one example”.

PwC Australia’s head of people and culture Catherine Walsh also says her firm’s policy is in the spirit of reconciliation with First Nations peoples. “Better understanding of each other and our complex national identity and history is essential to creating the inclusive culture we aspire to at our firm,” she says.

Australian Retailers Association chief industry affairs officer Fleur Brown says Australian consumers expect companies to act in a more socially and environmentally responsible way. They were increasingly calling out and boycotting businesses that don’t walk the walk.

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Spry lists outdoor clothing company Patagonia, recycled toilet paper producer Who Gives a Crap and the HoMie, not-for-profit street clothing enterprise which supports young people who are homeless, as examples of organisations that have backed up their claims with action. Dutch chocolate maker Tony’s Chocolonely, which campaigns against slave labour in the industry on its packaging, is another.

Clothing brands including boohoo have campaigned on gender equality while exploiting female textiles workers, Spry says. The company denies the accusation, saying it ensures that the workplace rights of the people who make its clothes are protected. “We talk to our customers about important issues such as gender equality and will continue to do so in future,” a company spokeswoman says.

Claire Braund, executive director of Women on Boards, says companies need to get their own house in order before they jump on the bandwagon. The Australian Shareholders’ Association judges the merits of a company’s stand on a social or political issue on a case-by-case basis. “What is appropriate for one company may not be for another,” chief executive officer Rachel Waterhouse says.

“Companies that take positions that are popular without them being closely aligned with [their] culture, values, and practices will inevitably be found out,” she says. ”Reputational damage would be worse than not taking a position in the first place.“

With trust declining in the ability of governments to solve economic and social problems, Waterhouse says pressure has grown on companies to take a more active part in addressing social issues including climate change, sexism, racism and modern slavery.

In his recently published book Woke Capitalism: How Corporate Morality Is Sabotaging Morality, Rhodes argues that woke washing is a mere symptom of a deeper problem that could potentially weaken democracy. He says a decrease in state intervention and the growing power of corporations since the 1980s has contributed to their influence on significant political issues. But while companies are interested in climate change, sexism, racism and identity politics, they have shown little or no interest in the housing crisis or massive wealth inequality in an age of billionaires.

“They are not going around saying they are trying to increase the minimum wage,” Rhodes says.

“We have CEOs whose payslips look more like ransom notes. If corporations ever had two main social responsibilities, one is to pay tax and to provide decent and meaningful employment to people. That isn’t happening.

“The kind of politics that gets highlighted are things that either support or don’t interfere with corporate interests. That’s not democracy, it’s closer to feudalism.”

The notion of being politically awake – woke – harks back to the 1960s when civil rights activist Martin Luther King spoke about being aware of social and political change. This notion of being woke went viral during the Black Lives Matter movement and has been misappropriated to disparage progressive political causes. Rhodes warns people need to be woke to woke washing.

As he describes it, the substantial debate is not between the left and the right. Democracy is where the real struggle lies. He fears for the very system that allows us to have political differences. “That is what is potentially at stake here,” he says. “That’s what worries me more than where a CEO makes fairly inane gestures about Australia Day.“

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New owner takes reins of Port Sydney general store

David Schwartz is the friendly face behind David’s General Store in Port Sydney.

He took the business over in May 2022 and says he is truly amazed at the friendly vibes and welcoming people in the community.

“I didn’t even know where Port Sydney was,” said Schwartz. He said he checked out the area, particularly Mary Lake, and the general store when it was for sale, and liked the possibilities.

He’s added a pizza menu and said he uses top ingredients and is amazed at how good he’s getting at making those. “Who knew?” questioned Schwartz who said he retired from the fast-paced automotive parts industry and wanted to find something else to do, something he could put his name on and make his own.

“This store has a lot of history going as far back as 1911. Now we are the new owners. Since opening the store the town has embraced my store with tremendous support. I have added a lot of new product selections to complement the store and the needs of the town. Our Pizza is the talk of the county all made fresh here. Also we make baked goods like cookies, brownies, and now bagels. Our breakfast sandwiches are also turning heads especially when we put them on our bagels with local farmed eggs, real cheddar cheese and enough bacon to choke a pig lol,” wrote Schwartz in an email introducing himself. He’s also added smoked meat sandwiches.

Schwartz said he wants to focus on buying local ingredients. “We bring in a lot of local meats and local pierogies, we deal lots with locals… This is what my concept is: If I’m dealing with the locals, the locals will respect it and deal with me.”

Schwartz explained that he lives with his wife in Tiny Township. His wife works in Toronto and comes up on weekends and now they have a store in Port Sydney, which should make it interesting but he’s committed to making the business a success. “People need to see my face and feel my heart,” he said adding that he hopes to be the place where everybody knows your name.

David’s General Store is located at 653 Muskoka District Road 10 in beautiful Port Sydney.

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