Australia’s new government, led by Labor Anthony Albanese, 59, includes a record 13 of women, including the first Muslim woman to hold the post of minister and the second Aboriginal person to be named minister for indigenous affairs.
The swearing-in ceremony, which took place in Canberra, took place 11 days after the election that saw the Labor Party defeat the national-liberal coalition that remained in power for three terms. After a few days of uncertainty, the counting of postal votes saw the new executive win the 76th seat, and therefore the majority in Parliament. The Greens have 4 seats, while the independent candidates will occupy 12 seats. The last two seats have not yet been filled.
Albanian: “An inclusive government”
“I am proud to lead an inclusive government that reflects the diversity of the Australian population,” Albanese commented via Twitter.
Of the thirty ministers appointed, almost half are women who also occupy a record of 10 primary positions out of the 23 available. For example, Penny Wong, 53, born in Malaysia and moved to Australia as a child in 1976, has become the new Minister of Foreign Affairs at a difficult time for Australian diplomacy. Wong, former minister for climate change in the Rudd government in 2007 and minister of finance in 2010, swore a few days ahead of the others, and together with Albanese, shortly before leaving for Tokyo in view of an important summit with the US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the center of the talks, the growing Chinese influence in the Pacific area.
Women also in Finance and the Interior
Katy Gallagher is the new finance minister and will face thorny problems such as the heavy deficit inherited from the previous executive and runaway inflation. Clare O’Neil is the new interior minister and head of cybersecurity.