There are more women than men joining the Labor caucus as new members of the lower house, marking a significant shift in the number of women in parliament.
This shift looks set to flow into the ministry, which is expected to be shortly announced.
Of the 17 new MPs to pick up or retain lower house seats for Labor, meaning they’re entering parliament for the first time, ten are female and seven are male.
And the mix of new Labor members overall is looking more like Australia than any government in Australian history.
Meeting with the new caucus for the first time today in Canberra, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlined the new government’s policy ambitions and declared they will be an inclusive government.
“I want to remind you that you shouldn’t waste a day in government. We don’t intend to,” Albanese said.
He added they have an “enormous responsibility” to deliver on the commitments made, and they now have “a clear mandate as part of a majority Labor government. And we will deliver it.”
He noted that the world has noticed a shift in government, and that “we’re joining again the global effort, which we needed to do after nine wasted years.”
Albanese also promised to never “single out vulnerable people”.
“We saw division during the election campaign whereby some very vulnerable people were singled out,” he said.
“We’re a better government than that. We shouldn’t do that. Ever. Ever.”
“What we should do is seek to reach out and to be an inclusive society and how we conduct ourselves is very much a part of that.”
He said the next parliament will begin in the final week of July, with the new ministry set to be sworn in on Wednesday.
Albanese also acknowledged Labor’s “two fallen colleagues” including Kristina Keneally and Terri Butler, who lost their seats.
The speech came as Fiona Phillips was looking increasingly likely to retain the seat of Gilmore for Labor, which would give Labor 77 seats in the lower house.
Reiterating Labor’s policy priorities, Albanese started the session with an acknowledgement and also committing to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
He said they will deliver more secure work, introduce legislation for an anti-corruption commission. easing cost of living, cheaper childcare and s a strengthened Medicare. He said they will fix childcare, create a more resilient economy and “end the climate wars.
“We will show that we’re an inclusive and mature country by recognising the privilege that we have of sharing this great island continent of ours, this great multicultural nation, with the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet and recognising that in our constitution with an enshrined voice to parliament.
“And you might have noticed that the world has noticed that the government has changed.”
The new Labor MPs includes
Western Australia
Pearce: Tracey Roberts
Swan : Zaneta Mascarenhas
Hasluck: Tania Lawrence
Tangney: Sam Lim
South Australia
Boothby: Louise Miller-Frost
Spence: Matt Burnell
New South Wales
Reid: Sally Sitou
Robertson: Gordon Reid
Bennelong: Jerome Laxale
Hunter: Dan Repacholi
Parramatta: Andrew Charlton
Cunningham: Alison Byrnes
Victoria
Holt: Cassandra Fernando
Chisholm: Carina Garland
Higgins: Michelle Ananda-Rajah
Hawke: Sam Rae (new seat)
Northern Territory
Lingiari: Marion Scrymgour