Australia has a new tourism minister, appointed last night by the country’s new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, who took power following an internal coup in the Liberal Party that deposed former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Morrison is another unelected prime minister for Australia, the country’s fifth prime minister in five years. (For comparison, neighbouring New Zealand has had five prime ministers in the past 20 years.)
Morrison’s choice for tourism minister is Simon Birmingham, who became Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment last night.
Birmingham replaces former Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo, who has been appointed Minister for Defence Industry.
Ciobo said last night: “As Minister I secured record funding for Tourism Australia, which helped deliver record numbers of international tourists visiting Australia and spending record amounts.
“Earlier this year I convened a steering committee of tourism industry leaders to develop the next long term tourism strategy. I have no doubt Simon Birmingham will continue to drive this initiative to ensure our vibrant tourism industry continues to grow.”
Simon Birmingham, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment
Birmingham, a Liberal Party senator from South Australia, served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment from September 2013 then Assistant Minister for Education and Training in the Abbott Ministry from December 2014, before being promoted to Minister for Education and Training in the Turnbull Government from September 2015.
Morrison said: “This new Liberal-National team is a next-generation team. It is a team that are brought together to assure that we have the stability necessary, but in addition to that, begin the work of healing that is needed after these most recent events.”
Meanwhile, the verdict of the Australian people on the sudden changes has been delivered in the form of a poll measuring public opinion. The latest Newspoll shows the Opposition Labor Party’s lead over the governing Liberal-National Coalition has increased suddenly, from 2% two weeks ago to 12% today.
Written by Peter Needham
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