OK. So you all probably know by now that the Liberal/National coalition government headed by John Howard was crushingly defeated by the Labor opposition.I think that the ALP ended up with a 25 seat majority in the House of Representatives.
Which of course means that Kevin Rudd is now our new Prime Minister. In fact, he was sworn in as the 26th Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia today, along with his new ministry.
And he hasn't mucked around either - making this blogger look like a goose by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol. I predicted that the Rudd Government would renege on this particular election promise. Boy, do I feel stupid.
Howard himself ended up being defeated in his own electorate, making him, as regular commenter Plonka has pointed out, the first Prime Minister in nearly 70 years to actually lose his seat at an election. Then Peter Costello retired. Now Brendan Nelson has been made Opposition Leader.
The tears and recriminations from this will be amazing - the Liberal Party is known for trashing their former PMs, with the exception of Robert Menzies, of course, and Harold Holt. Ming is something of a minor deity to the Libs, and you will never hear a bad word said against him. Holt died in tragic circumstances while in office, so I guess that Liberal Party members draw the line somewhere. But if the past is a guide, Howard's legacy is cactus in the eyes of Liberal members.
The new ministry looks a little like this:
- Kevin Rudd, MP: Prime Minister
- Julia Gillard, MP: Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Education; Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; Minister for Social Inclusion
- Wayne Swan, MP: Treasurer
- Lindsay Tanner, MP: Minister for Finance and Deregulation
- Peter Garrett, MP: Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
- Senator Penny Wong: Minister for Climate Change and Water
- Anthony Albanese, MP: Minister for Infrastructure, Transport; Regional Development and Local Government
- Senator Kim Carr: Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
- Martin Ferguson, MP: Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism
- Tony Burke, MP: Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Simon Crean, MP: Minister for Trade
- Nicola Roxon, MP: Minister for Health and Ageing
- Jenny Macklin, MP: Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
- Stephen Smith, MP: Minister for Foreign Affairs;
- Joel Fitzgibbon, MP: Minister for Defence
- Robert McClelland, MP: Attorney-General
- Senator Chris Evans: Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
- Senator Stephen Conroy: Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy
- Senator John Faulkner: Cabinet Secretary; Special Minister of State; Vice President of the Executive Council
Outer ministry
- Senator Nick Sherry: Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law
- Craig Emerson, MP: Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy, Minister assisting the Finance Minister on Business Deregulation
- Brendan O'Connor, MP: Minister for Workplace Participation
- Tanya Plibersek, MP: Minister for Housing and the Status of Women
- Senator Joe Ludwig: Minister for Human Services, Manager of Government Business in the Senate
- Bob Debus, MP: Minister for Home Affairs
- Alan Griffin, MP: Minister for Veterans' Affairs
- Warren Snowdon, MP: Minister for Defence Science and Personnel
- Justine Elliot, MP: Minister for Ageing
- Kate Ellis, MP: Minister for Youth and Sport
- Chris Bowen, MP: Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs
Parliamentary Secretaries
- Maxine McKew, MP: Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Early Childhood Education and Childcare
- Anthony Byrne, MP: Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
- Greg Combet, MP: Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence
- Mike Kelly, MP: Parliamentary Secretary for Defence
- Gary Gray, MP: Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Infrastructure with responsibility for Northern and Regional Australia
- Bill Shorten, MP: Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
- Bob McMullan, MP: Parliamentary Secretary responsible for International Development Assistance
- Duncan Kerr, MP: Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs
- Laurie Ferguson, MP: Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Programs
- Senator Ursula Stephens: Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion
- John Murphy, MP: Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade
This blogger predicted that after his pedestrian election campaign, Peter Garrett will most likely not be Environment Minister. Again, I was made to look silly when he was appointed to that portfolio, although I notice that he did score Arts, and that Penny Wong ended up with half the Environment portfolio (Climate Change and Water).
The Arts Minister post would be something of a let-down for him - this is normally the portfolio for ministers who have failed, or for junior ministers looking at their first portfolio.
No surprises elsewhere - Wayne Swan is Treasurer, Stephen Smith is Foreign Minister. Nicola Roxon got Health.
Maxine McKew, after unseating Howard ended up with a Parl Sec job. Good work, I say.
Elsewhere in the Senate, it looks like the Greens have picked up 2 seats and Family First one. Independent Nick Xenophon from South Australia also won a seat. This means that neither major party holds a majority in the Senate again. It'll still be a couple of weeks before the Senate votes are all tallied.
But that's it so far. Thank FSM it's over.
