00:00This was prompted by the retirement ahead of what will happen at the next election.
00:07The announcement made on Thursday from two senior cabinet ministers in Linda Burney and
00:13Brendan O'Connor.
00:15And the Prime Minister is using it as an opportunity to do a further, a larger refresh of his cabinet
00:23ahead of next year's election or the election that's due next year.
00:29Some speculation around the date of that as well.
00:32We know that Malindiri McCarthy, a Northern Territory senator, is set to become the new
00:38Indigenous Australians minister as a result of this reshuffle.
00:43And also that Jenny McAllister, a senior Labor Party figure from New South Wales, is set
00:51to be elevated to the cabinet.
00:53She currently, both of them currently hold assistant minister roles.
00:58As for the breadth of this change, the scale of this change, there's been immense speculation
01:05around who may or may not be moved within cabinet as part of this.
01:11The answer to that we will know later this afternoon when the Prime Minister makes this
01:15announcement.
01:16But in the interim, much of that scrutiny has been centred on Andrew Giles, who is the
01:21Immigration Minister, relating to his handling of a High Court decision back in November
01:27of last year, which found that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful for people
01:34with no real prospect of being resettled elsewhere in the foreseeable future.
01:40So much of this pressure focusing on him and whether he will hold on to that role, consensus
01:45within government, from figures speaking to members of the media, is that he will be
01:52moved as part of this broader reshuffle.
01:55But the retiring Skills and Training Minister, Brendan O'Connor, speaking on Insiders earlier
02:01today, who was also previously an Immigration Minister, said that it's not fair to attribute
02:08all of the blame or criticism on the minister in a portfolio such as immigration.
02:15Certain portfolios are very, very challenging and therefore it's not always fair just to
02:22blame the person that sits in that portfolio, because anyone sitting in certain portfolios
02:27would find it challenging.
02:29And Nicole, how significant is this?
02:32Caiman, the timing of this is particularly significant, given it's the first reshuffle
02:38of Anthony Albanese's Prime Ministership.
02:41By this time, in the past iterations of governments on both sides, so the Coalition and Labor,
02:48by this point into a term, we have seen multiple reshuffles occur, but this is the first under
02:55Anthony Albanese.
02:56He's really been seeking to highlight stability and consistency, but he's using this as an
03:02opportunity for a broader refresh and a reset ahead of the next election, allowing time
03:10for the new Cabinet Ministers to settle into their portfolios and benefit from the assistance
03:16of those currently in their roles ahead of that election as well.
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