Nationals reshuffle rewards Barnaby Joyce’s backers
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Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has announced Bridget McKenzie and Andrew Gee will be promoted to cabinet in a reshuffle that rewards his backers in returning to the leadership.
Darren Chester and Keith Pitt have been moved out of cabinet and Mark Coulton sent from the outer ministry to the backbench. All three backed Michael McCormack in last week’s leadership spill.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, flanked by David Littleproud and Bridget McKenzie, after winning the Nationals party room ballot to return to the leadership.
Pitt also lost the key Northern Australia portfolio in the reshuffle, which will now sit with David Littleproud and first-term Queensland senator Susan McDonald, who will take on the role as an “envoy” for northern Australia.
Chester, a longtime critic of Joyce and key Michael McCormack backer, was prepared for his move out of the ministry, despite pleas from veterans and their families to retain him in the Veterans’ Affairs portfolio. With the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide now getting under way, veterans have called for consistency.
Gee will become the fifth minister to head the portfolio since 2015.
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The Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie has been restored to cabinet and Darren Chester has been dropped to the backbench in a reshuffle of blatant reward and punishment following Barnaby Joyce’s elevation.
The reshuffle comes as Newspoll, published in The Australian, shows the Nationals’ turmoil and problems with the vaccine rollout have had little impact on polling numbers.
Labor went to a 51-49% two-party lead, compared with a 50-50 result in the previous poll. But the Coalition primary vote was stable on 41% while Labor improved one point to 37%. Both leaders had small improvements in their satisfaction ratings. There was little change on the measure of “better PM”, where Scott Morrison leads Anthony Albanese 53-33%.
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Barnaby Joyce has announced a new ministry line-up, with members expected to be sworn in on Friday.
Mr Joyce said the new cabinet is a win for regional Australia , saying he is determined to ensure the National Party continues to hear the issues of regional Australia .
READ MORE We continue on as we get ready in the next year for an election; and make sure the people of regional Australia are absolutely certain that the Nationals and the Liberals and the Coalition are in there, batting for them.
Former Nationals minister Bridget McKenzie, who oversaw the so-called sports rorts scheme, will return to cabinet less than 18 months after being forced to resign for breaching ministerial standards.