PM: [audio break] Nick Sherry announced his intention to retire from the Ministry. Nick has been a tremendous contributor to the Labor team over a large number of years now. He is someone who (inaudible). Minister for Superannuation, a policy area very close to his heart. His political career also contains some tremendous personal lows and I think Nick is always going to be remembered as someone in this Parliament who showed a great deal of fortitude and determination even in the most difficult of circumstances. He's also been an innovative policy thinker, he certainly goes from the Ministry to the backbench as a Senator for Tasmania with my great personal thanks for the contribution that he has made.
In the circumstances where Nick indicated that he did want to take a step back from the Ministry, I have determined to appoint Julie Collins the Member for Franklin to the Ministry. Julie has been doing important work as a Parliamentary Secretary. As Minister she will now have the opportunity to build on this important work in the community services area. She will serve as the Minister for Community Services and she will add to this responsibility being Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development and also Minister for the Status of Women.
Sid Sidebottom, the Member for Braddon, will become a Parliamentary Secretary and will serve in the areas of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
There will also be a number of other changes to Ministerial arrangements into the Cabinet. These changes are ones which reflect my central priorities as we go into 2012.
First of course, keeping our economy strong today and strengthening and modernising our economy for the future. We live in a period of tremendous economic change and in this period our focus will always be on jobs today for Australians and jobs tomorrow. That means that we need to keep our economy strong now and we need to be modernising it for the future.
Second, as we enter 2012 my priority is on insuring that Australians can share the benefits of our nation's wealth. I want to see Australians sharing the benefits of opportunity and I don't want to see Australians left behind.
With these priorities I have determined to make some changes to Ministerial arrangements and some new appointments to Cabinet. I believe that with this new Cabinet in place it will see an important mix of new energy and talent as well as wise heads and experienced heads in Cabinet. We will see this new mixture which will give us the focus and the fire power we need in 2012 to pursue the Government's priorities. I believe it's the right mix of experience and new blood.
As I said with our first priority being keeping the economy strong and ensuring that Australians have jobs, the ability to get a better job, the ability to start a small business if that's what they choose to do, the reassurance that when they go to work there will be fairness and decency there, that's my first priority and in this period of profound economic change I believe the Ministry must reflect that priority.
As we all know our economy is changing and that change does bring with it opportunities. Opportunities for new jobs, new industries as well as the chance for older industries to change. So in this period of change, to keep our whole economy strong, we must be shaping the economy of the future. And that means of course our focus on clean energy, it means the opportunities that come from new technologies like the NBN, it means a strong resources sector, high tech manufacturing, a diverse services sector, a growing food and wine industry that benefits our agricultural producers and an innovative and competitive tourism industry.
This is the economy that I want to see for the future. It is one that we have commenced to build in 2012 with important reforms like our Clean Energy Future reforms, putting a price on carbon; like the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, sharing the benefits that come from this period of high commodity prices and strong demands for minerals and of course with the rollout of the NBN.
Given the importance I am placing on jobs today and jobs tomorrow, on the shaping of this future economy I am appointing Greg Combet as Minister for Industry and Innovation. Greg will retain his own responsibilities as Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency given that our Clean Energy Future is such a key part of our nation's economic future and will be a key part of seeing the innovation that we need to create our future economy being unleashed.
Greg Combet will work alongside Chris Evans, Greg Combet working alongside Chris. Chris will serve as Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research and the two of them will work in a new department that brings together skills and higher education with the innovation, science and research portfolios, that is, it will bring together skills and higher education with the things that shape our future economy - innovation, science and research.
I want Australians to be able to get the skills and education that they need to have the best possible opportunities not only in today's economy but also in the future economy. Skills reform is going to be an important priority for the Government in the first half of 2012 and Chris Evans will be working on that.
Mark Arbib will step up to the new challenge of being Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business. This is to sharpen a focus on one of my strong beliefs and that is that the highest aspiration for working Australians today is not necessarily getting a better job, it can be to start their own small business and I will be looking to Mark Arbib as Minister for Small Business to be in touch with the needs of our small business community and for being in touch with Australians who see their future being creating their own small business.
In delivering on our agenda for the economy of the future, Greg Combet will work with Kim Carr who will maintain his long held passion for Australian manufacturing by becoming the Minister for Manufacturing as well as the Minister for Defence Materiel.
This is a focus on our future economy and on jobs. Jobs are essential. But we're a Labor Government so we're never going to forget that the decency and fairness at work, equality of jobs matter to working Australians. It is critical that people are afforded fairness and dignity when they walk into their workplaces.
Bill Shorten will become Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and I've asked Bill not only to focus on our Fair Work agenda as important as that agenda is, but to also broaden our description and thinking about workplace relations so that it deepens our national understanding about how workplaces are changing and the challenges for work and family life as that change occurs.
In the economy of today and certainly the economy of tomorrow we will work differently than we have in the past. That does bring benefits for working families including benefits like being able to work from home in a more meaningful way that has ever been possible before. But it also brings challenges and I will be asking Bill Shorten to not only focus on our incredibly important Fair Work agenda but to take this broader approach to workplace relations.
Bill Shorten will also be Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation as a recognition that working Australians today are not only concerned about their days at work but they are using that time at work to make proper and prudent preparation for their retirement through superannuation and other financial investments.
As I indicated the Government's other significant priority going into 2012 is about using our prosperity to give people the chance to get ahead, to share opportunity whilst also making sure that we aren't leaving Australians behind. Central to that is education, ensuring that today's kids get the best possible education is vital to our prosperity as a nation in the future, it's also vital to our equity as a nation. No one, I think, would doubt my passion when it comes this area - education transforms lives, it makes lives, it made my life. Education is the key to ensuring that our future prosperity is there and equity is there and education starts in the days before school through what we can do in early childhood.
I have therefore decided to strengthen our early childhood education team. That team currently consists of Peter Garrett, Kate Ellis and Jacinta Collins. I've decided to strengthen that team with the appointment of Brendan O'Connor who will assist Peter with our 2012 school reform agenda including the Government's response to the Gonski Review.
Brendan will also take over the important portfolio of Human Services.
Now there's nothing more important to the peace of mind of Australian families that knowing if they face illness or disability, mental illness, if they need an extra helping hand because of the impacts that come with ageing, or they need a hand in the circumstances of a natural disaster, that it will be there for them.
As a Labor government, as a Labor Party, we've always believed in the importance of helping Australians who are down on their luck through no fault of their own and that hasn't changed. I've therefore decided at Cabinet level to dedicate new resources to these areas that give assurance to working Australians and Australians generally, that a helping hand will be there if they were in times of need.
Tanya Plibersek will join Cabinet as the Minister for Heath and Mark Butler will join Cabinet as the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing and the Minister for Social Inclusion.
This team, this new team, will work on the delivery of Nicola Roxon's enormous suite of health reforms, including the implementation of the landmark health agreement that we reached at towards the start of this year and then delivered in its full form in the middle of the year and a wide ranging set of reforms so important for the future of health care.
This team will also work on the delivery of the nation's biggest ever mental health package, as funded in the May Budget and the team will work, particularly Mark Butler, on reforming aged care.
I believe it's important that this team works on this important agenda, I also believe that it's important Mark take the job as Minister for Social Inclusion, so that he is at the Cabinet table, able to ensure by looking across portfolios that disadvantaged Australians don't get left behind.
Jenny Macklin is going to continue her vital work on the development of a National Disability Insurance Scheme. This will be a key part of the Government's priorities in 2012 and given it is such a pivotal part of our agenda, Jenny's title has been changed to reflect that one of the key areas of work for her in 2012 will be disabilities reform.
Robert McClelland will be at the Cabinet table as the Minister for Emergency Management. Having lived through the days of last summer, both as individuals and as a nation, we all saw what can come when natural disasters strike, how they can impact the lives of so many thousands of Australians.
As we move into this summer, which I am hoping is a peaceful and quiet time, but having lived through the days of last summer, we know that natural disaster can strike and strike quickly. I am determined that at the highest level of government we have a Minister who is focussed on our response, the Commonwealth's response, to natural disasters.
Robert will take that job, he will also take on the important challenge of bringing to the Cabinet table new thinking in the area of housing, both public and private.
I am determined that we continue to drive against homelessness, that we continue to make a difference to the circumstances of Australians who are at risk of being homeless, or who have become homeless. And I also want us to strive to make a difference to housing affordability for young Australians and Robert McClelland will perform those roles.
I've asked Nicola Roxon to take on the portfolio Attorney-General, which lies at the heart of good government. Nicola's first love was the law, she is a Supreme Court prize winner, she is a former High Court judge's associate and she will return to her first love of the law as the Attorney-General.
She will be the first woman in the nation's history to serve in that role and I know that she will do it with distinction.
Amongst all of the things that Attorney-General brings, I've specifically asked Nicola to lead our efforts against the legal campaign by big tobacco to end the Government's reform of plain paper packaging.
These changes do mean an expansion of the Cabinet to 22 in order to ensure the Government's reform priorities in 2012 are directly represented at the Cabinet table.
In the outer Ministry, as I've indicated, Mark Arbib is becoming Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business, in addition to his current responsibility as Minister for Sport. Mark will also take on the role as Manager of Government Business in the Senate.
Jason Clare will be appointed Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Justice.
Amongst some minor changes to the existing responsibilities of Parliamentary Secretaries, Mike Kelly will return to the Defence portfolio, with particular responsibility for assisting Stephen Smith and the Government on the transition in Afghanistan, he is well placed to do that, given his own experience in his Defence days and his particular expertise in counter-insurgency.
Finally, I am determined, being the first woman to serve in this position, as the nation's Prime Minister, to see women take their full and equal place in our nation's decision making.
I'm very pleased as a result of this set of changes, the nation will see its first ever female Attorney-General and we will add another woman to our Cabinet and another woman to our Ministry.
These women, Nicola, Tanya and Julie, understand from personal experience many of the challenges Australian women face as they seek to build a career whilst having a family and I believe it's important that Australian women can look at the decision making of their nation and say that their life's experience is represented there and I believe Nicola, Julie, Tanya, will strengthen our capacity to do that.
I'm very happy to take any questions.
Yes, Phil.
JOURNALIST: Just to be clear because we haven't been given a list, exactly who has gone into the Cabinet, who has come out of the Cabinet, and why have you had to increase the size of the Cabinet, was it because you couldn't convince people to leave?
PM: The size of the Cabinet has been increased because of the breadth of the Government's reform priorities. What has driven me, as I've shaped this reshuffle, and it is my decision as Leader obviously, who serves in which portfolio and who serves in Cabinet. What has driven me in this reshuffle is making sure that the Government's big reform priorities for 2012 are represented around the Cabinet table.
That has meant that, in terms of going into Cabinet, Tanya Plibersek, Bill Shorten and Mark Butler have done into Cabinet. Kim Carr has gone to the outer Ministry. I've determined that I want to restructure Ministerial arrangements and our Departmental arrangements, which help us drive to create the economy of the future.
So I've done that with a new department, with Greg Combet and Chris Evans as Ministers in it. A combination that brings together Industry and Innovation, Science and Research, as well as Higher Education and Skills, with Greg also continuing to serve as Climate Change Minister, you can see coming together there the important future economy elements, including our clean energy future. The portfolios I have chosen for Kim Carr enable him to pursue his long standing passion for Australian manufacturing and Australian jobs in manufacturing.
The portfolio of Defence Materiel is central to our national security, it is also one which makes a difference to Australian jobs, skills and capabilities, which is why I thought Kim Carr would be a terrific person to do.
I'll go to Michelle Grattan.
JOURNALIST: Did you say Mark Arbib is retaining the Sport-
PM: -He's retaining Sport.
JOURNALIST: Isn't Assistant Treasurer a fairly big job? Why have you kept Sport with him?
PM: I thought it was important as we move into Olympic year to keep that continuity. Mark will have a very big workload, a sizable workload. Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Sport and he will be the Manager of Government Business in the Senate. This is a new set of opportunities for him, but he is serving well as Minister for Sport and I thought that there was some reason to keep continuity as we move into Olympic year and with some of the issues the Government has been dealing with, including trying to use our love of sport and the fact we'll all be parked watching Olympic events this year, to actually make a difference to people's thinking about themselves going out and playing some sport and getting involved.
Laura.
JOURNALIST: Why hasn't Kim Carr been given the job you've now given to Greg Combet? Why has he been demoted and surely the two speed economy being such a big issue means it's actually something that should be at the Cabinet table and yet you've relegated it to the outer Ministry.
PM: Manufacturing will be represented at the Cabinet table by Greg Combet. I have restructured this Department to put a focus on the future economy we need to build. We are in the days of the patchwork economy, absolutely right and I said during this period of the patchwork economy I want to manage today's economy so we're offering opportunity for all, right around the country, that there aren't regions or individuals feeling left behind, but I also in these days want to be building the economy of the future. And I want to make sure that economy is a more diversified one, not a less diversified one, as a result of the resources boom and I know many Australians fear we'll come out of the resources boom with a narrower economy than we had going into it.
So I've asked Greg Combet to step up to that challenge. It is something I think lies at the heart of what we want to achieve as a government, so focussed on jobs today and jobs tomorrow. It enables him to bring together what he's been doing in clean energy, with this work to develop the economy of the future, so Greg's the right choice for that.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) head up that Department, and what part of the Climate Change Department move into that new Department?
PM: Greg will be Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, with the Climate Change Department continuing.
JOURNALIST: Will there be a new Department?
PM: I presume Don Russell, the current Secretary of DIISR, will head the new Department. Greg will continue as Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. We're now obviously in the days of implementation of the carbon pricing package, so it starts on 1 July next year, in those circumstances, whilst that implementation is painstaking work, I do believe that Greg has capacity to turn his mind to an additional challenge and that's why I've asked him to do so.
I have asked Kim Carr to continue to serve in the areas for which he has a life time passion and has done some tremendously good work.
Yes, Phil.
JOURNALIST: Are Brendan O'Connor and Peter Garrett sharing Education, what will Brendan's exact title (inaudible) ?
PM: Minister Assisting on School Education.
JOURNALIST: That's an outer Ministry?
PM: Yes, it is. Yes, it is, so Brendan O'Connor will be the Minister Assisting on School Education, he will also be the Minister for Human Services. We've got a strong education team, with Peter Garrett leading it, but we are continuing our major drive in school reform and school education. So all of the reforms that we have been implementing so far and they're be biggest set of reforms ever made to Australian schooling, we are now looking to add to, with reform of school funding, in those circumstances I thought we should pump up the team and I've done that with Brendan O'Connor.
Yes, I'll go to the back, Steven.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, why do you keep Robert McClelland in the Cabinet when you've substantially reduced his responsibilities?
PM: I thought it was important, given what we've learned through the things that we've lived through over the days of last summer, that there be a dedicated Cabinet level Minister doing Emergency Management and able to be there at the Cabinet table. Not only in days of the actual emergency, we have already made arrangements so we've got a Ministerial team which Robert will lead, ready to swing into action if we face the kind of emergencies that we did last summer. So I've already put that in place, Robert will lead that team.
In the days of the immediate response, that's obviously critical, it's 24/7 work and Robert will do it, but even in the days beyond the emergency response there are days of recovery and rebuilding, I think it's important that Robert is at the Cabinet table there. There are also important days of resilience building, we learn something from every natural disaster about how we could be better prepared for the future. I thought it was important for Robert McClelland to be at the Cabinet table.
As a Sydney Minister I've also asked Robert to take on the challenge of Housing. I think it's important that we do move to having a dedicated Housing Minister at this time. Housing isn't just an issue in Sydney, but I think Sydney is often the biggest flashpoint where people are thinking about housing affordability and the very simple question - will I ever be able to afford to own my own home. I want Robert, particularly as a Sydney based Minister, to work on that area and I want to make sure we continue in our drive against homelessness.
Yes, I'll go to Andrew.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how many of your demotees, if I can use that new word, threatened to quit - one or two? And secondly, why didn't you shift Ludwig out of Agriculture, given the internal heat he came under for his management of the live cattle exports?
PM: Well I'll take the second question first, but I'm happy to answer the first one as well. On Minister Ludwig, it's been a difficult year in the portfolio of Agriculture, as a result of the decision the Government took - the whole Government took - on live animal exports and the suspension to Indonesia. So I know it's been a difficult year and Joseph Ludwig has managed his way through those difficulties.
I want Joseph Ludwig to continue in that work, he's working even as we speak with stakeholders in Agriculture, working his way though, has been a difficult period, but we've got live exports resumed now, we've got better circumstances and a better understanding about how we deal with the animal welfare issues which were shockingly unveiled on Australian TV screens, so I think it's important for Joe Ludwig to be there consolidating. I think Sid Sidebottom will be a very good Parliamentary Secretary for him, bringing a perspective from Tasmania on all of these issues, including the forestry issues.
On who I've chosen to be in here, I've chosen the people I wanted, I've chosen the strongest possible team to take the Government's reform priorities forward. I'm not going into individual discussions with Ministers, but let me tell you - I read a few things in the media that bare no resemblance in any way, shape, or form to any discussion I've had with a Minister.
Yes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister was the Durban climate change conference, in fact-
PM: We'll go, Paul we'll definitely come to you, but we'll go here and them come - well why don't we just do reshuffle questions first and then we'll go to issues of the day and Paul I'll give you-
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) reshuffle.
PM: Alright, OK, it's an interesting question. OK, we'll go (inaudible).
JOURNALIST: Tony Abbott said this morning that this reshuffle's more about shoring up your leadership, what's your argument to counter that?
PM: Tony Abbott's negative about everything, so of course he's negative about the reshuffle. What else would you expect?
Paul.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) Greg Combet have as much work do to now in the climate area, given that the Durban conference seems to have derailed a key plank of your economic strategy, with no effective, or significant rather, climate change action globally for ten years.
PM: Well, I think you've got on the wrong tram in relation to Durban and I think you've got on the wrong tram in relation to Greg Combet, so let me just explain why for both.
The result of Durban is that the big emitters, including the US and China, have agreed that there should be legally binding arrangements in 2020 and that negotiations will start for an agreement in 2015, so an agreement in 2015.
This is actually an important step forward, this is a remarkable step forward that means the world is showing that it is acting on climate change and I know in the lead up to these discussions at Durban there have been a lot of doomsayers around. I note, for example, that in accordance with usual negativity what we have seen is the Opposition predicting that nothing will happen at Durban. Let me just take you to the words, the relevant spokesperson, Greg Hunt said ‘there won't be a global agreement' - well, completely wrong. Senator Birmingham, who presumably got the same talking points from the Leader of the Opposition's office, say no to everything: ‘there doesn't appear to be any hope of a replacement to Kyoto, an extension to Kyoto being agreed upon and so this means we'll see the perverse situation where the world will enter a void where there is no agreement to act.'
Well the complete opposite happened. There is an agreement to act, including an agreement to act that extends to the US and China. This shows that the world is acting on climate change, that is what we have said to the Australian community all along, the world is acting on climate change. We have to act, we have acted and we will implement those measures so carbon pricing comes into place on 1 July next year.
On Greg Combet's workload, Greg Combet's workload in carbon pricing is moving to implementation. Yes, that is careful and painstaking work, but having been with Greg Combet as we worked though the best way put putting a price on carbon, with the complex policy design work, that was obviously an incredible onerous task. We've moved beyond those days of design and delivering legislation, to implementation, and whilst that will require Greg's efforts he does have capacity to turn his mind and his efforts to a further change.
Yes.
JOURNALIST: Just given that negotiations on the international agreement continue for three years and we don't get concrete outcomes til 2020, is there an argument that maybe Australia's carbon price should start at a lower level, that we should scale back some of our ambition and then bring it up after 2015 when things become clearer?
PM: Well, I think you've got to remember the one point of bipartisan agreement in a world in which the opposition says no to everything, and that one point of bipartisan agreement is we have said, unconditionally, that we will cut our carbon pollution by five per cent by 2020, unconditionally.
So if you are going to acquit that unconditional obligation, then you need to find a way to do it and putting a price on carbon is the cheapest way to do it. Why would I subject this nation to doing it in a more expensive way? Tony Abbott might want to do that, I don't.
Karen.
JOURNALIST: Some people might look at this list of changes that you've made and note that you've promoted two, in particular, people who were involved in your elevation to the job of Prime Minister. What would you say to anyone (inaudible)?
PM: You mean Tanya?
JOURNALIST: I'm talking about - well, maybe there's three - I'm talking about Bill Shorten and Mark Arbib. What would you say to anyone who sees some kind of association with their elevation and you and your promotion?
PM: I'd say anybody making that assertion was incapable to logical thought. Have a look at - and that might be something that could be rectified through our ever improving education system for them - the key new appointments here are the appointments into Cabinet. Yes, of course important changes have been made, like Julie Collins coming into the Ministry, but I'll direct your attention to the people joining Cabinet - Tanya Plibersek, Bill Shorten, Mark Butler.
Yes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's been no mention of Kevin Rudd in this, of course he retains his position. Does this indicate that you're satisfied with his (inaudible) both as Foreign Minister, but also as a loyal member of your Cabinet?
PM: I haven't taken you to anybody whose job has remained the same. I've only taken you to the changes. Kevin Rudd is continuing as Foreign Minister, as I've said before and I'm very happy to say again, he's doing an exceptional job as Foreign Minister, so his role is not changed in the same way that Wayne's role isn't changing, Chris Bowen's role isn't changing, Craig Emerson's role isn't changing, Stephen Smith's role isn't changing and the list goes on.
So in this press conference today, I've just answered your question - I am obviously delighted with the work that Kevin Rudd is doing as Foreign Minister. He continues what is foreign policy work in our proudest tradition, which is punching above our weight in the councils of the world and in our bilateral relationships, that's what I want to see Kevin Rudd doing, it's what he's doing now as Foreign Minister and that's what I want him to continue to do as a member of my Cabinet.
Yeah, we'll go here and here and come back through. Yes, Mark.
JOURNALIST: Did you make all these decisions unilaterally, or did you consult the factions and just to clarify, is Brendan O'Connor having carriage of (inaudible) funding, or just assisting the Minister, Peter Garrett?
PM: So, Brendan O'Connor will assist Peter Garrett with it. There's a team here, there's currently Peter, Kate, there's Jacinta Collins, but I wanted to add to the team, given the volume of work and we've got this huge reform agenda and now we're doing school funding as well. So Brendan O'Connor will work with Peter Garrett on the breadth of our school reform agenda, but he will also work with his on Gonski. I made these decisions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Greg Combet and Chris Evan sharing a Department, who's the senior Minister and who takes the cab sub to Cabinet, (inaudible) have co-Ministers in a sense?
PM: No, it's exactly the same as the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has been. It's exactly the same as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been for many a long year. We have two Cabinet Ministers and they bring submissions to Cabinet in their portfolio areas.
So, Kevin would bring one on foreign affairs, Craig would bring one on trade. Under the old arrangements Chris Evans would bring one on workplace relations, Peter Garrett would bring one on school education. It's no different than that.
Yes.
JOURNALIST: Do you expect that this new team is the team that will go to the next election, or are you anticipating another reshuffle before then?
PM: I have put this team together as the strongest possible team to drive our reform priorities to ensure that our economy is strong today and strong tomorrow and to make sure we're offering Australians the benefits of opportunity and I don't want to see people left behind.
I want this team driving the economic transformation that this nation needs in the interests of working people and by that I mean working people getting opportunities, getting a helping hand when they need that helping hand. That's why I put this team together.
Now, I've selected it because it's the strongest possible team.
Now, I know Tony Abbott has said he'll take his current team to the election. Clearly I'm not going to be without common sense on this, change is possible. Until Nick Sherry came to me at National Conference a few weeks ago, not that long ago, and said to me that he wanted to stand down, I wasn't aware that Nick was contemplating that.
So, those things happen, Nick's made a set of decisions based on his own circumstances and his own life and I had already been in the throes of thinking about a reshuffle before Nick came to me with that conversation.
But this is the strongest possible team and I've put it together to reflect the priorities that I want 2012 particularly to be all about - building on what we've delivered in 2011.
Thanks very much.