
Amanda Rishworth will become the new NDIS minister, Katy Gallagher will pick up another portfolio and Anne Aly will assist the new NDIS minister in a cabinet reshuffle following Bill Shorten’s retirement.
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten will leave parliament on Monday, just before the federal election, vacating the National Disability Insurance Scheme portfolio and providing an opportunity for the prime minister to refresh his cabinet before voters head to the polls.
Sport and Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has also been promoted to cabinet, meaning the frontbench will have an equal split of men and women for the first time.
But it won’t come without internal tensions for the prime minister.
Victorian members of his caucus were already frustrated with Mr Albanese when he replaced last year’s retirement of Victorian cabinet minister Brendan O’Connor with NSW MP Pat Conroy.
Ms Wells’ appointment to cabinet, following the departure of Victorian Mr Shorten, will further widen the gap in representation on the frontbench for the southern state.
Labor has just eight federal politicians in Queensland, and all but two have roles within the government.
Gallagher, Rishworth, Aly add to their workload
Finance Minister and Minister for the Public Service Katy Gallagher will now also be responsible for Mr Shorten’s Government Services portfolio, which oversees services like Centrelink.
Ms Rishworth and Dr Aly will continue in their respective roles of Social Services Minister and Early Childhood Minister, and the three will be sworn into their new portfolios on Monday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Mr Shorten’s work on the NDIS, and promised his government would continue to support it.
“When Labor established the NDIS, we made a promise to people with disability, to families and to carers not to leave you behind. We will keep that promise,” Mr Albanese said.
The ABC revealed yesterday a cabinet reshuffle was imminent, with Mr Shorten saying whoever took on his portfolio had a significant task.
“It requires passion, it requires caring about people, it requires the willingness to make the tough decisions,” he told the ABC.
Mr Shorten on Monday ends a 17-year career in politics, during which he served in several government ministries and contest two federal elections as Labor leader.
Ms Rishworth’s appointment to the NDIS portfolio aligns oversight of the scheme with the newly created “foundational support” system for people with disabilities, which is already housed in her social services portfolio.
That system was created in response to ballooning costs of the NDIS as a support outside of the scheme for people with disabilities that the NDIS was not designed to support.
The details of the foundational support scheme are being worked through with the states and territories.
Mr Albanese added that Ms Wells would be a worthy entrant to cabinet.
“Anika Wells has delivered on the commitments that were made. There is now a nurse in a nursing home, as they used to be called, 99 per cent of the time. There are literally millions of hours of additional care being given to our older Australians who deserve to live their later years with dignity and with respect,” he said.
“Anika Wells has done an outstanding job as the minister, as well as in her sport portfolio.”