Labor’s new cabinet will be sworn in today, with Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy set to replace Linda Burney MP as the new Minister for Indigenous Australians.
Linda Burney announced her retirement from politics last week, prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to make several changes to the Labor frontbench.
On Sunday, Albanese unveiled his new cabinet to be sworn in on Monday, making significant changes to major ministerial portfolios, including the Home Affairs and Immigration portfolios.
In the cabinet reshuffle, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy was promoted from Assistant Minister to Minister of Indigenous Australians.
“Malarndirri McCarthy was the obvious person to move into that portfolio, building on the legacy of Linda Burney,” the Prime Minister told reporters on Sunday.
Posting on social media, Senator McCarthy said she is “truly humbled” to take up the role from her predecessor, “friend” and “mentor”, Minister Burney.
“This Saltwater woman from Borroloola, of the Yanyuwa Garrawa people, will go to Government House tomorrow to be sworn into the Federal Cabinet,” Senator McCarthy wrote on Sunday.
“I’ll take the place of my friend and mentor Linda Burney. It’s been an extraordinary journey and a wonderful privilege to walk beside both her and former Senator Pat Dodson for the last eight years.
“Thank you to the Prime Minister – who I know shares the strong vision to close the gap.”
Senator McCarthy has been the Senator for the Northern Territory since 2016. Her career began as a journalist for the ABC, SBS and NITV, and before entering federal politics, she spent several years serving in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.
Senator McCarthy was a strong figure in the Yes campaign for the referendum vote for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament last year, where more than 60 per cent of the Australian voting population voted No.
The new Minister thanked her family – her husband and her six children – who she said are her “daily reminder of why I do the work I do”.
“Thank you to the people of the Northern Territory who sent me to Canberra; you’ve now got a seat and a determined voice at the Cabinet table,” Senator McCarthy said. “I am truly humbled.”
What are the other changes?
This year, the opposition has placed significant pressure on Clare O’Neill, the Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security and Andrew Giles, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs of Australia.
The scrutiny came from a High Court decision in November that led to the release of more than 150 immigration detainees, many of whom were convicted criminals.
O’Neill and Giles were both part of the Prime Minister’s cabinet reshuffling: their portfolios were handed to Minister Tony Burke, on top of his other portfolios as the Minister for Arts and Leader of the House.
Prime Minister Albanese defended the move, which the Coalition described as a reflection of Albanese losing faith in his cabinet. Posting on X, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the Labor government is “in all sorts of trouble”.
“The fact is that we have been a very stable government,” Albanese said. “This combination of changes represents a significant move forward.”
O’Neill will take up the ministerial portfolio of Housing and Homelessness, previously held by Minister Julie Collins. Collins will now be the new Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, while continuing her role as the Minister for Small Business.
The Greens spokesperson for housing, Max Chandler-Mather MP, said the changes to the housing ministry portfolio is just the government playing “musical chairs”.
“If all we see from the new Housing Minister is more of the same small target strategy, the reality is that Labor will be punished at the ballot box by the millions of people across the country right now who are getting smashed by the housing crisis,” the Greens MP wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Senator Murray Watt, who held the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry ministry, will be sworn in as the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, left vacant by Minister Tony Burke.
There was also a promotion for NSW Senator Jenny McAllister in the outer ministry: she will be the new Minister for Cities and Emergency Management.
The Prime Minister also made some changes to the government’s Special Envoys, including appointing Peter Khalil MP as the Special Envoy for Social Cohesion.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Albanese appointed Jillian Segal AO as the inaugural Special Envoy on Antisemitism. At the time, Albanese indicated he would be appointing a Special Envoy on Islamophobia “shortly”.