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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled his new cabinet following a reshuffle in the wake of Labor’s landslide election win.
Michelle Rowland has emerged as one of the big winners from the reshuffle, moving from the communications portfolio to replace the dumped Mark Dreyfus as attorney-general.
Tanya Plibersek has been shifted away from the environment portfolio, instead becoming social services minister, with Murray Watt taking her place.
Anika Wells, who was promoted to the cabinet before the election, will add communications to her portfolio alongside sport, while Health Minister Mark Butler has taken on responsibility for the NDIS on top of his existing duties.
The official announcement comes after it emerged late last week that senior ministers Dreyfus and Ed Husic, who held the science and industry ministry, had been dumped from the ministry due to maneuvering by Labor’s Right faction.
Husic hit out at the decision yesterday, labelling Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, the leader of the Victorian Right, a “factional assassin”.
“We’ve had bare-faced ambition and a deputy prime minister wield a factional club to reshape the ministry,” Husic told the ABC.
“I think people, when they look at a deputy prime minister, they expect to see a statesman, not a factional assassin.”
Sam Rae, one of the MPs who Husic and Dreyfus made way for, will be the new aged care minister, while Senator Tim Ayres will take Dreyfus’ industry and science portfolio.
The cabinet will be sworn in tomorrow morning.