Australia PM Albanese appoints record number of women to diverse cabinet

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese swore in Australia’s new federal government on Wednesday, naming a record number of women to a diverse cabinet team featuring religious minorities and Indigenous Aboriginals.

Albanese’s 23-member cabinet includes ten women, compared to seven in the previous Liberal-National coalition administration led by Scott Morrison.

At a ceremony in the national capital, Canberra, Industry Minister Ed Husic and Youth Minister Anne Aly became Australia’s first Muslim federal ministers, while Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, dressed in a kangaroo-skin robe, became the first Aboriginal woman to occupy the position.

Two days after the election, Albanese organized an interim cabinet with four other important members so he could attend a Quad group meeting in Tokyo with US President Joe Biden and the presidents of Japan and India.

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The military portfolio has been handed to Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who was part of the temporary cabinet alongside Penny Wong in foreign affairs, Jim Chalmers in treasury, and Katy Gallagher in finance.

Don Farrell is the new trade minister and Tanya Plibersek the environment minister, while Clare O’Neil will be in charge of home affairs and Chris Bowen takes energy.

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten will be minister for government services.

Albanese on Tuesday said Labor will govern in its own right, claiming 77 seats in the 151-seat lower house, letting it form a majority government without the support of climate-focused independents and Greens.

Securing a majority lowers the risk for Labor that it would have to negotiate with 16 crossbenchers to pass legislation, although it will still need to win additional support for legislation in parliament’s upper house.

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