Labor Party member Anthony Albanese was sworn in as Australia’s new prime minister, hours before leaving for Japan, where he will attend a meeting of the Quad group.
Australia changes needle after a decade. Labor returns to power with a majority
“As Prime Minister, I want to bring people together and lead a government that is as brave, hard-working and caring as the Australian people. This work begins today,” Albanese, 59, said on the social network. twittershortly after the brief ceremony, presided over by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley, in the capital, Canberra.
I am deeply honored to serve the Prime Minister of Australia.
As Prime Minister, I want to bring people together and lead a government that is as brave, hard-working and caring as the Australian people.
That work begins today. pic.twitter.com/qhu8JxHx2g
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 22, 2022
Jim Chalmers and Kathy Gallagher were also sworn in as Budget and Finance Ministers, respectively, while Penny Wong will be in charge of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will be in charge of Employment.
The opening will allow Albanese and Wong to travel to Tokyo this Monday afternoon for a meeting of the Quad group, which brings together the US, Japan, India and Australia.
The meeting will be attended by the Prime Ministers of Japan, Fumio Kishida, and of India, Narendra Modi, as well as the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who will hold a bilateral meeting with Albanese.
In his victory speech on Sunday, Australia’s new prime minister said he wanted to use his first official trip abroad to “let the world know there is a change of government.”
“There will be some changes in policy, particularly around climate change and our engagement with the world on these issues,” he added.
Albanian also promised make Australia a “superpower” in renewable energyBut he has not promised to give up coal or prohibit the opening of new mines, a crucial decision for an economy that depends heavily on the sector.
During Albanese’s trip to Tokyo, which ends on Wednesday, Marles will act as interim president of Australia and the rest of the ministers who took office this Monday will be responsible for all the Executive’s portfolios until the composition of the new Government is defined, the end of week.
For now, It is not yet clear whether Labor will win an absolute majority in the Australian parliament, which would allow them to govern without alliances.
The Electoral Commission of Australia assigns this Monday, in the absence of definitive results, 75 deputies to Labor – close to the 76 that grant an absolute majority -, compared to about 58 that the conservative Scott Morrison’s coalition would have obtained.
The potential allies of the Labor Party would be between the 20 independents, with agendas closely linked to action against the climate crisis, and the Green Party, which can win up to five seats.
About six of the 151 seats that make up the Chamber of Deputies remain to be defined, along with 40 of the 76 members of the Senate. Final results may take days due to the complex system of electoral preferences.
Source: Observadora
