New Ministry details emerging

Bryan · Sunday 22 January 2006 · 12:07 pm

A couple of days ago the Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Hill, resigned.

This morning, we learnt the Family and Community Services Minister Kay Patterson is retiring ahead of the axe.

By noon we had discovered that Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation Minister Ian Macdonald has been sacked from the Howard ministry.

Though not everyone is leaving. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is not moving.

It looks like Howard did the ring around last Thursday, so presumably the other winners and losers know the outcome. As such secrets can not last long, I expect the announcement of the new ministry either later today or tomorrow.

Also, this means the Ministry reshuffle, in whatever form it takes, will be substantial (affecting at least two Cabinet ministers, a junior minister, and the consequentials throughout the ministry and parliamentary secretaries). The corollary is that Howard intends to stay on. Costello keeps Treasury. And the PM transition window is closing til perhaps 2009.

Michelle Grattan has some amusing suggestions for Howard to consider.

Update 23 January 2004: Today’s papers are full of conflicting hints about who will win and who will lose, and when it will all be announced (today, tomorrow or Wednesday). The gossiped about contenders are:

  • Any others who might get the chop: Kelly and Kemp (perhaps after the Commonwealth Games)
  • Who will get defence: Minchin, Abbott or Nelson?
  • Who will get FACS: Bishop (the new one)
  • Who will get promoted to Cabinet: Bishop, Brough and Robb
  • Who will get promoted within the Ministry: Pyne, Dutton and Stone
  • Who will get promoted to the Ministry: Turnbull, Robb, Scullion, Santoro, Smith and Scott (2nd time)

Labor has an interesting line on the announced departures.

Labor has accused Mr Howard of cleaning out the moderates to create a far-right ministry.

“This is turning out to be John Howard’s night of the long knives against the few remaining Liberal moderates in the federal party,” opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said.

“This also represents the final conversion of the once mainstream Liberal Party into a much more extreme conservative party.”

General ·