Australian PM Morrison announces new-look cabinet

Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-27 10:48:09|Editor: Shi Yinglun
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CANBERRA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Scott Morrison, Australia's new prime minister, has announced his "next generation" cabinet.

Morrison was sworn-in as Australia's 30th prime minister on Friday night after defeating conservative colleague Peter Dutton by 45 votes to 40 in a ballot on the leadership of the governing Liberal Party.

He announced on Sunday night that Dutton would remain as the Minister for Home Affairs but with reduced powers after immigration responsibilities were decoupled from the portfolio.

The role as Minister for Immigration will instead be filled by David Coleman.

Marise Payne, who served as Minister for Defence under former PM Malcolm Turnbull, will replace Julie Bishop as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Bishop, who served as the party's deputy leader for 11 years, ran against Morrison and Dutton for leadership but was eliminated in the first round of voting.

She announced her resignation as the Minister for Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

Christopher Pyne, the former Defence Industry Minister, is the nation's new Minister for Defence.

Angus Taylor, a conservative who has been a strong campaigner against wind turbines, is the new Energy Minister, succeeding Josh Frydenberg who became the party's deputy leader and Australia's Treasurer on Friday.

Speaking on Monday, Frydenberg said that renewable energy sources would be an important part of the new regime's energy policy.

"I'm really pleased for Angus, he is extremely talented, he has got a depth of experience in the private sector and he will bring a fresh set of eyes to a fresh set of challenges," Frydenberg told Sky News Australia on Monday.

"His focus is on affordability and reliability, building on the successes to date, and we have separated energy out from environment and that will assist him in delivering our goal of lower electricity prices which is is a real priority for the Morrison government."

Turnbull's signature energy policy, the National Energy Guarantee (NEG), was fatal for the former prime minister with government conservatives threatening to rebel over his plan to embed a 26-percent emissions reduction target in the policy.

Key Dutton supporters Michael Sukkar, James McGrath and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells were not returned to the ministry having been key players in Turnbull's downfall.

Tony Abbott, a former prime minister and leading conservative in the government, was not picked in the ministry but was offered a role as an indigenous affairs envoy.

Dutton was sworn-in as Home Affairs Minister on Monday morning so that he could attend an intelligence and security meeting on Monday while the rest of Morrison's 23-member cabinet will be sworn-in on Tuesday.?

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