Morrison Keeps Bulk of Election-Winning Team in New Ministry

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Scott Morrison kept the bulk of his conservative government’s ministry intact, while adding some new faces in his Cabinet after last week’s surprise Australian election win.

While promoting Paul Fletcher to the communications portfolio and Stuart Robert to manage services, Morrison on Sunday indicated he will maintain faith in the team that won a third term for his Liberal-National coalition. Josh Frydenberg will continue in the key role of treasurer and Marise Payne in foreign affairs.

“The ministry will be tasked to deliver on the commitments we set out in the election,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra. “To maintain budget surpluses, to deliver the first surplus that we announced in the budget this year.”

Payne will also assume the role of women’s minister and she is one of a record seven women in the cabinet. Ken Wyatt was named indigenous affairs minister, the first indigenous Australian to be appointed to Cabinet. The ministry will be sworn in on Wednesday, Morrison said.

Linda Reynolds will keep the defense portfolio that she only gained in March, at a time Australia is committed to a multi-billion dollar overhaul of its key weaponry. The former soldier will need to ensure that the nation’s massive ship-building projects, including a A$50 billion ($34 billion) contract for 12 submarines and A$35 billion plan for anti-submarine frigates, remain on budget.

Morrison will use his selections to cement his authority over the government, with his stocks sky high after securing the narrow election win despite the conservaties trailing in opinion polls for years and being in the top job only since August. While he campaigned on a thin agenda, one of his first priorities when parliament resumes will be to legislate sweeping income-tax cuts.

The coalition is on track to win at least 77 seats with two undecided, Australian Broadcasting Corp. analysis showed on Sunday with 83% of the vote counted. That’s enough to secure a slender majority in the 151-seat lower house; it will need to negotiate with minor parties to pass legislation in the Senate.

Morrison also announced his intention to recommend Arthur Sinodinos as ambassador to the U.S. and Mitch Fifield as ambassador to the UN.

The ministry is:

Prime Minister: Scott Morrison
Indigenous Affairs: Ken Wyatt
Deputy Prime Minister, Infrastructure and Transport and Regional Development: Michael McCormack
Treasurer: Josh Frydenberg
Agriculture: Bridget McKenzie
Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, National Disaster and Emergency Management: David Littleproud
Finance and Leader of the Government in the Senate: Mathias Cormann
Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure: Alan Tudge
Defense: Linda Reynolds
Foreign Affairs and Women: Marise Payne
Trade, Tourism and Investment: Simon Birmingham
Attorney-General, Leader of the House, Industrial Relations: Christian Porter
Home Affairs: Peter Dutton MP
Communications, Cyber Safety and Arts: Paul Fletcher
Education: Dan Tehan
Health: Greg Hunt
Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business: Michaelia Cash
Resources and Northern Australia: Matthew Canavan
Industry, Science and Technology: Karen Andrews
Environment: Sussan Ley
Energy: Angus Taylor
Families and Social Services: Anne Rushton
National Disability and Government Services: Stuart Robert
Housing and Assistant Treasurer: Michael Sukkar

To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net;Mariko Ishikawa in Sydney at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, ;Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey, Jason Scott

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.