Economy
Afghanistan’s cabinet has more women
Tony Abbott has defended his first cabinet line-up as the right mix to deliver ”strong and stable government” despite naming just one woman in his 19-minister executive and putting just four more in his 11-strong junior ministry.
The prime minister-elect effectively took command of the national government on Monday for the first time since winning the election 10 days ago, unveiling his governing team, which will be sworn in on Wednesday.
Gone from the line-up are the key portfolios of water, climate change, science and aged care. Instead these will be contained within portfolios but not named individually.
Calling it one of the most experienced incoming line-ups ever, Mr Abbott said he would have liked to have more women but was denied that opportunity by the failure to gain re-election of his industry spokeswoman, Sophie Mirabella.
”Sophie would be in the cabinet, so plainly I am disappointed that there are not at least two women in the cabinet,” he said. ”Nevertheless, there are some very good and talented women knocking on the door of the cabinet and there are lots of good and talented women knocking on the door of the ministry.”
The only woman named in the ranks of the parliamentary secretaries was the out-of-favour Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.
As expected, veteran Liberal Bronwyn Bishop will be Speaker.
The gender imbalance brought a stinging rebuke from acting opposition leader Chris Bowen, who noted that war-torn Afghanistan had more women in its cabinet.
And Queensland Liberal National Party senator Sue Boyce also rounded on the male-heavy line-up, calling it ”embarrassing”.
The portfolios outlined featured noticeably shorter titles, sparking criticism that Mr Abbott had either overlooked key ministerial responsibilities such as science, aged care and climate change or was making a political statement that these areas were no longer worthy of separate mention under his administration.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/afghanistans-cabinet-has-more-women-20130916-2tv5b.html#ixzz2f5YVGhQb
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