00:06What I am absolutely confident in is that I have a united team.
00:11From a crisis for the government comes opportunities.
00:15I want to particularly congratulate my colleagues Rachel Stephen-Smith and Caitlin Tuff on their
00:22unopposed elections as Deputy Chief Minister and new Cabinet Minister.
00:28I am taking on a portfolio that is in the midst of significant reform.
00:33With her promotion, Ms Stephen-Smith is picking up the education portfolio and will hand off
00:39health, which she has held since before the COVID-19 pandemic, to Marisa Patterson, who
00:44in turn passes on corrections as well as the women's portfolio and prevention of family
00:49and domestic violence to Ms Tuff.
00:51Treasurer Chris Steele takes on sport and hands off transport to Attorney General Tara
00:56Chain.
00:56Suzanne Orr will take on housing along with some new portfolios and Michael Pedersen
01:02picks up the night-time economy, while the Chief Minister adds major projects to his list
01:07of responsibilities.
01:08We acknowledge that Yvette Berry's departure from the Cabinet, a long-term Cabinet member,
01:12leaves significant holes to fill.
01:15I am feeling a mix of excitement, nervousness and a bit of sadness as well for the circumstances
01:21that has led to me becoming a member of Cabinet.
01:25The Opposition argues Yvette Berry's move to the backbench leaves questions unanswered,
01:29after the Integrity Commission found senior officials in her office and portfolio engaged
01:34in serious corrupt conduct by not awarding a construction contract to a bidder that the CFMEU didn't like.
01:41In this report, we see that the smell of that corruption leads you directly to the former Deputy Chief Minister's
01:49Office.
01:49The events that culminated in last week's report from the Integrity Commission are, as I said last week, concerning.
01:57We take them very seriously and we have put in place a comprehensive set of responses.
02:02Ms Stephen Smith's promotion comes as little surprise given her seniority within Cabinet,
02:06but also that she comes from the left of the party, the same faction as Ms Berry.
02:10And it further solidifies her standing in the line of succession to Andrew Barr, if and when he leaves the
02:15Assembly, be it in 2028 or beyond.
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