Melbourne, May 29 (PTI): Scott Morrison was sworn in as Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday along with a “hungry, committed and united” team of ministers after the ruling Conservative Coalition led by him staged a surprise victory defying exit polls in the general elections.
The new Coalition ministry for the 46th Australian parliament was sworn in at the Government House in Canberra with Morrison taking the oath as a new Prime Minister and Michael McCormack as the Deputy Prime Minister.
Morrison promted New South Wales MP Sussan Ley, Linda Reynolds and Anne Ruston to the Cabinet and inducted Jane Hume, Ben Morton, Alan Tudge Stuart Robert on the government frontbench.
A record number of seven women were sworn into the new Cabinet with Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie becoming Australia’s first female agriculture minister.
The Cabinet includes Australia’s first Aboriginal federal cabinet minister, West Australian MP Ken Wyatt, who will be in charge of indigenous affairs.
Wyatt received a standing ovation from the gathering at the ceremony when he stepped up to be sworn in.
He wore a traditional kangaroo skin, called a “booka” given to him by indigenous Noongar people from his home state, Western Australia.
There was a standing ovation for Wyatt for becoming the first Aboriginal person to sit in Cabinet.
Morrison, 51, and Deputy Prime Minister McCormack were the first to be sworn in by the Governor General Peter Cosgrove at the ceremony, accompanied by their families.
The 46th Parliament is expected to open in the first week of July.
Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Morrison on Tuesday said his “hungry, committed and united” team would focus on the aspirations of ordinary Australians during their third term in power.
“They are the reason we have the opportunity and the great privilege to serve them each and every day,” he said.
“We must burn for the Australian people every single day that we have this privilege of serving them, in this party room and as a government.”
Defying exit polls, the ruling Conservative Coalition led by Morrison staged a miraculous victory in the general election, devastating the opposition Labor Party, forcing its leader Bill Shorten to resign.
The result defied long-term polls that had predicted a Labor Party win for the first time in six years.
Morrison had wooed voters by saying if re-elected, his right-leaning coalition Coalition would deliver a stable economy, more jobs and tax cuts. He also promised funds for women’s career initiative and domestic violence and conservative plans to deal with climate change.
