Australia's PM keeps Jim Chalmers, Penny Wong in roles in second term
Australia's PM keeps Jim Chalmers, Penny Wong in roles in second term
CANBERRA – Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese retained Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Foreign Minister Penny Wong in their portfolios as he unveiled changes to his line-up just over a week after decisively winning an election.
Mr Albanese, unveiling his ministers on May 12, kept his core economic and diplomatic team intact from his first term, with Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Trade Minister Don Farrell retaining their roles as key support to Mr Chalmers and Ms Wong.
Mr Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister and defence minister, also retains his portfolio.
However, there have been some changes following resignations and factional infighting in the wake of Mr Albanese's sweeping victory.
Former leadership rival Tanya Plibersek will move into the social services ministry with Mr Murray Watt replacing her as environment minister.
Ms Michelle Rowland will become the new Attorney-General and Mr Tim Ayres the new industry minister, replacing Mr Mark Dreyfus and Mr Ed Husic, respectively, who were dumped from the ministry.
In the election on May 3, Mr Albanese became the first Australian Prime Minister since 2004 to win consecutive elections, a sign that the nation's long-running political turbulence may be easing.
Under the Australian Labor Party's rules, factions select candidates to serve in the government and the leader allocates their portfolios.
'We have the largest ALP Caucus in history since federation,' Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra as he announced the ministry. 'A Caucus brimming with capacity, talent and energy'.
With counting still under way, Labor is currently leading in 93 out of 150 seats in the Lower House of Parliament, its largest majority since World War II and one of the biggest wins in the country's modern history.
'It is an extraordinary opportunity for ministers, but for the entire Caucus going forward to put in place the agenda that we put forward positively to the Australian people and an ambitious agenda to change this country for the better,' Mr Albanese said.
In comparison, the centre-right Liberal-National Coalition is leading in around 40 seats, its worst result in decades, sparking a contest to lead and rebuild the opposition between deputy leader Sussan Ley and treasury spokesman Angus Taylor.
The size of Mr Albanese's win will give him a mandate to potentially tackle challenging economic reforms like the tax system, as well as cementing his policy to boost uptake of renewable energy across the country.
It will also strengthen the Australian Prime Minister's hand in talks with US President Donald Trump over tariffs, which are expected to take place in the period ahead.
Other key roles in Mr Albanese's newly formed Cabinet include Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Minister for Resources Madeleine King, who have held onto their portfolios.
The National Disability Scheme is being folded into the health ministry portfolio overseen by Mr Mark Butler. BLOOMBERG
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Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Straits Times
What's in a name? Proposal to rename Taiwan's Zhongzheng Roads reignites transitional justice debate
The controversy stems from the complicated legacy of Taiwan's longest-serving head of state, Chiang Kai-shek, who had used Zhongzheng as his adopted name. ST PHOTO: YIP WAI YEE – With more than 300 roads across the island carrying this name, Zhongzheng Road is Taiwan's most common – and most contentious – street name. And they may all disappear, if the government's proposal to rename every Zhongzheng Road goes to plan. When Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior resurfaced the initiative on June 2, it sparked immediate backlash from local officials who condemned it as a waste of money. In New Taipei city alone, officials estimate that it could cost upwards of NT$60 million (S$2.57 million) to rename all 22 Zhongzheng Roads across the city's 18 administrative districts to replace not just the major street signs but also individual home address plaques. The ministry, however, has defended the move as a human rights issue and must be taken seriously. 'The government cannot pretend to look at transitional justice only when there is money to do so, as that attitude does not reflect Taiwan's democracy and rule of law,' Minister of the Interior Ms Liu Shyh-fang told reporters. The controversy stems from the complicated legacy of Taiwan's longest-serving head of state, Chiang Kai-shek, who had used Zhongzheng as his adopted name. As the leader of the then-ruling Kuomintang (KMT) on mainland China, Chiang fought a civil war with the Communist Party of China after World War II and lost, fleeing with his government to Taiwan in 1949 where he ruled as President until his death in 1975. His authoritarian rule under martial law was controversial and while democratic reforms were undertaken by his son Chiang Ching-kuo, the current ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) under its transitional justice policy has been taking measures to right historical injustices of the authoritarian era. Changing the name of the Zhongzheng Roads is one of these moves. The hundreds of Zhongzheng Roads across the island had been named after Chiang following a postwar push by the KMT government to replace any old symbols of Japanese colonialism. Until 1945, Taiwan had been under Japanese rule for 50 years. One of the busiest Zhongzheng Roads in the southern city of Tainan, for example, formerly bore the Japanese name Suehirocho. The name has a Singapore connection. When Chinese philanthropists founded Chung Cheng High School - Zhongzheng Zhongxue in Mandarin - on Kim Yan Road in 1939, they had named it after Chiang, which was an 'indication that the Chinese community in Singapore was actively engaged with affairs in China then', according to the National Heritage Board . China at the time was fighting a war with Japan that began in 1937 and ended in 1945. But while some in Taiwan today see Chiang as a strong leader who fought against the communists and oversaw the island's path to economic prosperity, he is equally despised as a dictator who ruled with an iron fist. 'For some Taiwanese, anything related to Chiang is a reminder of a painful authoritarian past,' said Assistant Professor Ma Chun-wei, a political science analyst from New Taipei's Tamkang University. While some in Taiwan today see Chiang as a strong leader who fought against the communists and oversaw the island's path to economic prosperity, he is equally despised as a dictator who ruled with an iron fist. ST PHOTO: YIP WAI YEE Complicated legacy Taiwan transitioned to a democracy from the late 1980s and ranks among Asia's freest societies today, but it continues to wrestle with its authoritarian past. For its part, the modern KMT has taken steps to atone for its history. While serving as justice minister, former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou helped establish a foundation in 1995 to raise awareness of the White Terror years – a period of martial law covering almost four decades of brutal political purges from 1949 to 1987. But it was only after President Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP took office in 2016 that transitional justice work was made a top priority. In 2018, her administration set up an commission to review and redress injustices committed during the territory's authoritarian rule. Part of that involved exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals and going after assets illegally obtained by the KMT during its authoritarian rule. Among the commission's top recommendations was also the physical removal of all 'authoritarian symbols', including any road signs named after Chiang. In 2022, for instance, a section of Zhongzheng Road in Tainan city's West Central District was renamed Thng Tik-Tsiong Boulevard, in honour of the human rights lawyer who was executed by KMT troops in 1947. Other symbols include the many busts and statues of Chiang scattered across the island – the most prominent of which is the towering statue inside Taipei's National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, where millions of tourists flock every year to take selfies and watch the changing of the guard. Over the years, the government has made sporadic attempts to remove these symbols, albeit with limited success. Taiwan's main airport Taoyuan International Airport, for instance, was formerly known as the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, or Zhongzheng International Airport in Chinese. It was given its current name in 2006. And while hundreds of Chiang's statues have since been removed from Taiwan's schools, parks and other public spaces, there are still some 760 statues dotted around the island as of April 2024. Efforts to dismantle all of the symbols have consistently faced roadblocks, including protests from those who say that the move amounts to erasing history. 'Even among KMT supporters today, Chiang is no longer revered, but they cannot deny his contributions to Taiwan's development,' said Prof Ma. For now, the Ministry of the Interior said that it would engage officials from local governments – which would be in charge of executing the road sign changes – before proceeding further. But it would continue to promote its plan in line with transitional justice efforts, said Minister Liu. 'I understand many people are still sorting through their feelings about the past – and historical representations of it – which is why we will keep our communication on the issue open and clear,' she said on June 4. 'However, our position on the issue has not changed, and we will continue to promote the removal of the vestiges of authoritarianism,' she said, adding that the ministry provides subsidies for the renaming of street names. Several municipal government officials, many of them from the opposition KMT, have voiced objections to the ministry's proposal. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, who is Chiang Kai-shek's great-grandson, accused the ruling party of politicising issues and not doing actual work. Meanwhile, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih, also from the KMT, condemned the ministry's proposal as 'meaningless'. 'What people need is help to solve their problems. Does it make sense for the government to spend money on things like this?' he said. Ms Victoria Lin, a resident living on Zhongzheng Road in New Taipei's Zhonghe District, opposes the renaming of her road for a more pragmatic reason. 'Do you know how much trouble it will be to have to change my home address with the banks and all that?' said the 39-year-old, who works in real estate. Yip Wai Yee is The Straits Times' Taiwan correspondent covering political, socio-cultural and economic issues from Taipei. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
13 hours ago
- Straits Times
Jacinda Ardern thinks world leaders need more kindness
Jacinda Ardern at Harvard University's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 31. After she resigned as prime minister of New Zealand, she got married, temporarily relocated to the United States and now has three fellowships at Harvard. PHOTO: LAUREN O'NEIL/NYTIMES CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – It is easy to forget that Jacinda Ardern is a former prime minister of New Zealand. Standing in line at a cafe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, wearing a suit by New Zealand designer Juliette Hogan, with sneakers and gold hoops, she flashes a disarming smile and says to call her 'just Jacinda'. As she orders a cappuccino, the cashier wonders why she looks so familiar. Was she, by any chance, that person on TV? 'Toni Collette?' they ask, referring to an Australian actress. Ardern, without security detail, waves off the misidentification and does not set the record straight. The cafe is a 10-minute walk from Harvard University, where Ardern, who resigned as prime minister in 2023, now holds three fellowships. In the aftermath of her voluntary resignation, she married her long-time partner Clarke Gayford and temporarily moved her family to Massachusetts. The day before we met, students and faculty had gathered for their commencement and remnants of the ceremony are everywhere: tents, stacks of foldable chairs lying in yards and students milling around with cardboard boxes . The ceremony capped a school year in which the institution has been entangled in a legal stand-off with United States President Donald Trump's administration over allegations of anti-Semitism, with federal funding and the visas of international students enrolled at the university in jeopardy. It is in that tense environment that Ardern, who during her time in power was frequently referred to as the 'anti-Trump', is publishing her memoir, A Different Kind Of Power. The book, which was released on June 3 , makes the case that leading with empathy and kindness might be the solution for a range of global crises – an argument that has also been the subject of one of her fellowships at Harvard Kennedy School. Whether such a book will resonate in a highly charged moment is an open question. Ardern said she has been relishing the relative anonymity of life in the US. A step back has allowed her to spend more time with her six-year-old daughter, who, she said, has a 'greater awareness now' of the fact that her mother was prime minister, yet 'doesn't dwell on it'. But the book and a global tour are part of what appears to be a re-emergence into public life, which also includes a documentary about her, called Prime Minister, that will be released later in June . In the book, Ardern, 44, gets into the granular details of what it was like to lead a country through multiple crises, including a live-streamed terrorist attack in Christchurch, a major volcanic eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. We are sitting so close to Harvard, which has been at the centre of heated debates, and now you are releasing a book about kindness and empathy in leadership. How does this all fit together? I started writing it after I left office – in early to mid-2023. Though there was a lot of difficulty in the world, now feels vastly different from then. So it's not lost on me, the environment it's going into. But I would have written the same book regardless. Because, even then, ideas of empathy, compassion and kindness in leadership were treated as if there was a naivete there, and probably even more so now, and I just push back on that. How do you push back? First, I think there's a disconnect. People make an assumption that because we have a particular type of leadership on display at the moment, that must be what voters are seeking. And I don't think that's true. There are very real issues that need to be addressed that I summarise as deep financial insecurity and uncertainty in the face of a very changeable world. Politicians can come into that space either with a message of fear and blame or they can take on the very difficult issue of finding genuine solutions. I think it would be wrong to say people don't want to see kindness and compassion in their politics, and that they don't want to see politics done differently. It's not naive. In the book, you say you worried that your compassion could be seen as a weakness and, by extension, that weakness could be seen as female. I decided early on that I was just only ever going to be myself. And in New Zealand, if you're not yourself, they can sniff out inauthenticity – there's so much proximity to politicians and leaders that you need to be yourself. So that was the environment. But did it come easy? Not necessarily, because I remember moments when I thought, I cannot let my emotions be on display. And there were certain times when it just wouldn't have been appropriate because it wasn't about me; it was about the situation, the victims, the circumstance. But I decided that sometimes, you're just going to have a human response and that's okay. In fact, maybe it builds trust, because people can see then that you're human. Do you think people now expect this style from female leaders? I get asked a lot whether these traits are gendered. I've worked with a number of politicians, and I see empathetic leadership in men and women. In fact, I like to think of it within the frame of what we teach our kids. If you ask a room of parents, 'What are the values that you think are really important for your kids?', you'll hear the same things. People want their kids to share, they want them to be generous, they want them to be kind and empathetic, they want them to be brave, courageous. Those values that we teach our kids, we then see somehow as weaknesses in leaders? I was struck by the push and pull you describe in the book between what parts of yourself to share with the public and what parts to hide away. In hindsight, when I look back on those moments, it's very clear to me that, if you are, for instance, only the second woman in the world to give birth while in office, you feel a burden of responsibility to still demonstrate that it's possible. And so I did hold back anything that might allow someone to question that I could be both a mother and a prime minister. But the thing that conflicted with that was also my desire to make sure that it didn't look like I was doing everything on my own. You know, the Wonder Woman fram e. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
China demonstrates coast guard capability to Pacific nations, step towards high seas patrols
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) and crew are on an inaugural patrol in the South Pacific Ocean, February 26, 2024. Senior Chief Petty Officer Charly Tautfest/U.S. Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo SYDNEY - China is taking further steps towards high seas boarding of fishing boats in the Pacific for the first time, risking tensions with Taiwanese fleets and U.S. Coast Guard vessels that ply the region, Pacific Islands officials told Reuters. The Chinese Coast Guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships, used to enforce maritime law in the Taiwan Strait, to Pacific Island ministers last week. It is also actively involved in debates on the rules of high seas boarding, according to documents and interviews with Pacific fisheries officials. The fisheries officials said it was anticipated China will soon begin patrols in a "crowded" fisheries surveillance space. "Hosting the leaders, demonstrating their capabilities in terms of maritime operations, those kind of things are indications they want to step into that space," said Allan Rahari, director of fisheries operations for the Forum Fisheries Agency, in an interview with Reuters. The agency runs enforcement against illegal fishing for a group of 18 Pacific Island countries, with assistance from navy and air force patrols by Australia, the United States, France and New Zealand. The biggest fishing fleets in the Pacific, attracting the most infringement notices by inspectors, are Chinese and Taiwanese. But China is also the largest fisheries partner to some Pacific Island countries, and Rahari said agreements for Chinese coast guard patrols in coastal waters could be struck under security deals with these countries. China registered 26 coast guard vessels with the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in 2024 for high seas boarding and inspections in a vast region where the U.S. and Australia have the biggest inspection fleets. The commission has not received a notification from China that it has conducted any inspection, but Chinese officials have become active in debate over the rules on boardings, WCPFC executive director Rhea Moss-Christian told Reuters. China last year called for a review of the guidelines, and in March, Chinese officials attended a video meeting about an Australian-led effort to strengthen voluntary rules, she said. WCPFC inspectors in international waters need to gain permission for each inspection from the suspected vessel's flag state before boarding. Rahari said it could be "very complicated" diplomatically if a Chinese coast guard vessel sought to board a Taiwanese fishing boat. Beijing does not recognise Taiwan as a separate country. Chinese officials and the Chinese Coast Guard did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Australia declined to comment, while Taiwan and the U.S. Coast Guard did not respond to requests for comment. SHIP TOUR Foreign ministers from 10 Pacific Island nations visited the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen and toured Haixun 06, which can travel 18,500 km (11,470 miles or 10,000 nautical miles) or 60 days without resupply. Papua New Guinea (PNG) foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko said 10 Pacific Island ministers saw the Chinese coast guard demonstrate a maritime emergency drill, but told Reuters they did not discuss Pacific patrols. PNG is negotiating a new defence treaty with Australia, and struck a 2023 security deal with the United States allowing the U.S. Coast Guard to patrol PNG's 2.7 million square kilometre exclusive economic zone. Fiji said it had approved a new maritime security agreement with Australia this week. Nauru's government broadcaster posted photographs on social media of the Haixun 06 drill, which it said "reaffirmed the importance of maritime cooperation between China and Pacific Island nations". Under a security treaty struck in December, Nauru must notify Australia before the Chinese navy comes to port. The U.S. Coast Guard has maritime law enforcement agreements with a dozen Pacific Island nations allowing it to enter nations' exclusive economic zones, and increased its patrols last year. "The key considerations for China is stepping into that space without stepping on other partners toes, because that will then create conflicts within the region and that is something we don't want," Rahari said. Reuters previously reported the first U.S. Coast Guard patrol in Vanuatu's waters saw local officials board several Chinese fishing boats in 2024, finding infringements, which Beijing criticised. Since 2008, Chinese fishing vessels were issued with 158 infringements, or 46% of Chinese boardings by WCPFC inspectors including the U.S., France and Australia, WCPFC data shows. Taiwanese fishing boats were issued 233 infringements. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
