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Why Albanese sacked two ministers · The Front

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  Speaker 1: the news from the Australian. From the Australian, here's what's
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  Speaker 1: on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Monday, July twenty nine.
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  Speaker 1: Nursing homes have lost five billion dollars in the past
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  Speaker 1: five years, and three quarters of them face sustained losses
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  Speaker 1: without a new funding model. That story is live now
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  Speaker 1: for ours subscribers at the Australian dot Com dot a you.
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  Speaker 1: Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is out and so is Home
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  Speaker 1: Affairs Minister Claire O'Neill as Anthony Albanesi tries to regain
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  Speaker 1: control of border policy, plus a new Indigenous Affairs minister
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  Speaker 1: rises Today Anthony Albanese's big Cabinet reshuffled and what it
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  Speaker 1: tells us about the looming election.
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  Speaker 2: Anthony Albanesi has put his government on an election footing
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  Speaker 2: by removing two underperforming ministers while putting one of his
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  Speaker 2: most senior lieutenants into the key Home Affairs ministry.
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  Speaker 1: In federal politics, some portfolios are much tougher than others. Immigration,
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  Speaker 1: you need nerves of steel and the ability to sail
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  Speaker 1: past allegations of heartlessness. You're in charge of the overall
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  Speaker 1: migration mix, deportations and offshore detention. What could go wrong?
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  Speaker 1: Right Home Affairs you carry the care for border protection,
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  Speaker 1: counter terrorism and cybersecurity. When a boat full of Shri
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  Speaker 1: Lunkan or Pakistani asylum seekers lands in remote wa you
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  Speaker 1: get the call. When Anthony Albernezi came to government in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, he chose two newby ministers. Immigration went
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  Speaker 1: to a member of the PM's own left faction, Andrew Giles,
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  Speaker 1: a lawyer, and Home Affairs to a member of Labour's
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  Speaker 1: right former Victorian local mayor and management consultant Claire O'Neill.
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  Speaker 1: They have struggled, not necessarily because of personal failings, but
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  Speaker 1: because these are hugely challenging jobs for first time ministers
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  Speaker 1: or anyone. Now both their jobs have been handed to
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  Speaker 1: one of the most powerful people in government, Tony Burke,
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  Speaker 1: from Labour's famously ruthless New South Wales right faction. Burke
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  Speaker 1: takes pretty much all their responsibilities except AZIO, the nation's
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  Speaker 1: spy agency that's moved out of Home Affairs and to
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  Speaker 1: the Attorney General's Department. Greg Brown is the Australian's Canbrook
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  Speaker 1: Bureau chief.
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  Speaker 2: Tony Burke will be the Minister for both Home Affairs
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  Speaker 2: and Immigrations, so he's doing two former ministers' jobs in one.
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  Speaker 2: He's also looking after multicultural affairs, which I think is
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  Speaker 2: critical given he's a Western Sydney MP with a high
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  Speaker 2: Muslim population. He's also the Minister for the Art. He's
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  Speaker 2: also the Minister for Cybersecurity, which comes under Home Affairs,
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  Speaker 2: and he's also the Leader of the House, which is
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  Speaker 2: kind of like the government's key strategist. Now. I think
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  Speaker 2: a key takeout from this is that this is the
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  Speaker 2: appointment that Anthony Albaneze he made two years too late
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  Speaker 2: upon coming into government. He should have treated Home Affairs
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  Speaker 2: and Immigration seriously. Instead, he knew no one wanted to
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  Speaker 2: do either. It's always poisoned for an ambitious labor politician
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  Speaker 2: to take those portfolios. So he put in Claire O'Neill,
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  Speaker 2: someone who here I don't think as a particularly close
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  Speaker 2: relationship with He put her into Home Affairs, and then
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  Speaker 2: he put his very good mate Andrew Giles into Immigration
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  Speaker 2: because he knew that Jiles, being very loyal to him,
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't say no, and wouldn't be angry with him about it.
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  Speaker 1: Taking Burke's previous job. Is another winner from the reshuffle
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  Speaker 1: the left factions. Murray What. He is the widely respected
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  Speaker 1: Minister for Agriculture who's being promoted to Employment and Workplace Relations,
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  Speaker 1: a big cabinet job.
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  Speaker 2: It's a big promotion for Murray What. He's one of
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  Speaker 2: the key figures of the Queensland Left and he's got
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  Speaker 2: a lot of union backing, factional backing. But he's also
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  Speaker 2: a very good performer. So I think this is alb
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  Speaker 2: and easy shoring up some of his internal support by
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  Speaker 2: people that are close from the United Workers' Union, a
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  Speaker 2: key union, but also rewarding Senator What for his very
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  Speaker 2: good performances. Doing so, though, it does risk putting regional
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  Speaker 2: Australia offside, and that is really something that Labor traditionally
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  Speaker 2: struggles with.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew Giles has been dealing with a nightmarish unintended consequence
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  Speaker 1: of a labor policy Labour inherited from the Coalition a
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  Speaker 1: tough regime of deporting convicted criminals who are non citizens
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  Speaker 1: of Australia, But early in its term, Labour decided to
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  Speaker 1: introduce a new rule called direction ninety nine, which allowed
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  Speaker 1: the tribunal that rules on these cases to consider the
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  Speaker 1: length and depth of a criminal's connection to Australia when
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  Speaker 1: deciding whether to let them stay. Surprise, surprise, this led
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  Speaker 1: to hardcore convicts whom the government wanted to deport being
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  Speaker 1: allowed to remain in Australia. The government had to frantically
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  Speaker 1: dump that policy. Claara O'Neill's tenure and remember she was
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  Speaker 1: in Chine of Borderforce has seen an optic in what
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  Speaker 1: the government calls unauthorized maritime arrivals. Both people, more than
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  Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty potential irregular immigrants that's another government euphemism,
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  Speaker 1: have arrived and all have been either turned back to
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  Speaker 1: their country of departure or taken to the processing center
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  Speaker 1: on Nauru. Last month, twelve people were turned back, thirty
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  Speaker 1: seven went to Nauru, five went home from Nauru to
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  Speaker 1: their own countries, and five voluntarily left Australia. So it's
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  Speaker 1: a trickle, not the kind of flood the opposition predicted
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  Speaker 1: when Labour came to power. Here's O'Neill in April.
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  Speaker 3: Operation Sovereign Borders is a sacrisant part of Australian public
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  Speaker 3: policy it's something that I spend a lot of time on.
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  Speaker 3: It's something that we've devoted additional resources to. I've been
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  Speaker 3: a bit disappointed in recent days to see people that
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  Speaker 3: I actually respect in the opposition coming out and you know,
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  Speaker 3: telling untruths about this and pulling into question aspects of
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  Speaker 3: this policy. The Commander offerin sovereign Borders has been really
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  Speaker 3: opened that provides an alternative narrative for people snugglers, and
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  Speaker 3: I asked them to stop doing it Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: So we're talking about a few one hundred asylum seekers,
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  Speaker 1: not tens of thousands. So why is Clara O'Neil facing
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  Speaker 1: the chop.
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  Speaker 2: I think she's very much seen as part of the
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  Speaker 2: problem with While it may have been delegated to Andrew Giles,
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  Speaker 2: the fact is she was the senior minister in those portfolios.
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  Speaker 2: She should have been ensuring some of those mistakes weren't made.
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  Speaker 2: She should have been asking more questions of her junior
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  Speaker 2: minister about Direction ninety nine. Quite frankly, I think that
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  Speaker 2: she's got off pretty lightly with public criticism because so
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  Speaker 2: much of it was born by Andrew Giles.
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  Speaker 1: O'Neil and Giles were jointly assigned to handle another migration headache,
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  Speaker 1: a High Court decision to release scores of stateless detainees.
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  Speaker 1: The High Court ruled they couldn't be held in custody indefinitely.
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  Speaker 1: Some had been convicted of serious crimes. Since they're elief,
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  Speaker 1: some have allegedly committed more violent offenses. But Greg, to
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  Speaker 1: listen to Anthony Albanezi, you'd think Immigration and Border Protection
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  Speaker 1: was not the dumpster fire it seems to be.
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  Speaker 2: Then why did you move Andrew Giles from the portfolio?
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  Speaker 4: Because there's a reshuffle.
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  Speaker 5: What we had to do, what we had to do,
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  Speaker 5: what we had to do. What you do when there's
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  Speaker 5: a reshuffle is that there is a change that then
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  Speaker 5: has a knock on effect.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, the PM sounded pretty defensive in his Sunday
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  Speaker 1: press conference.
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  Speaker 4: We have been the most experienced incoming labor government in history.
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  Speaker 4: We are considered, things are orderly, policy processes are right.
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  Speaker 2: Well. I think it was a bit of a bizarre explanation.
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  Speaker 2: I agree with you, Claire, because you think if you're
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  Speaker 2: moving on ministers in high profile portfolios where there are
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  Speaker 2: a lot of problems, he's moving them on and then saying, oh,
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  Speaker 2: but they didn't do anything wrong. They did a great job,
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  Speaker 2: so there's actually no explanation to the electorate as to
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  Speaker 2: why it's happening, so it doesn't seem to pass the
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  Speaker 2: pub test. Really, I think nearly all of it as hr.
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  Speaker 2: I think the retirement of a couple of ministers gave
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  Speaker 2: him the opportunity to make a couple of these key changes,
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  Speaker 2: and I think it's more about the sales peach than
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  Speaker 2: the policy.
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  Speaker 1: Both O'Neill and Giles have been reappointed to new jobs.
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  Speaker 1: Giles will take on Skills and Training and that portfolio
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  Speaker 1: has been dumped from cabinet, so he'll be in the
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  Speaker 1: outer ministry ouch. In Clara O'Neil's case, it's Homelessness and Housing.
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  Speaker 1: She remains in cabinet, but it's a much less important role.
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  Speaker 2: They did need more energy in housing. I think they're
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  Speaker 2: facing a lot of pressure from both the Coalition and
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  Speaker 2: the Greens on that portfolio, so I think they're hope
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  Speaker 2: it will be more within like it does suit her more.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up after the break, a new Minister in Indigenous
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  Speaker 1: Affairs to take on center Numpi imp Price. The Australian
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  Speaker 1: after the break. Mullinderry McCarthy is a young ule woman
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  Speaker 1: and former journalist, born in Katherine in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: She's been a Territory MP and since twenty sixteen a Senator.
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  Speaker 1: She's a passionate advocate and has spoken of how John
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  Speaker 1: Howard's emergency intervention in remote communities, sparked by reports of
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  Speaker 1: rampant child sex, offending and substance abuse, left her deeply saddened.
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  Speaker 1: Now she's Minister for Indigenous Australians, taking the portfolio from
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  Speaker 1: Linda Bernie who's retiring.
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  Speaker 2: It's extremely tough after the mishandling of that Voice referendum.
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  Speaker 1: The twenty twenty three referendum defeat Australians voted no to
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  Speaker 1: enshrining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait island of Voice in
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  Speaker 1: the Constitution left Labor promising to forge a new path
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  Speaker 1: ahead towards reconciliation, but it's been light on detail so far.
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  Speaker 2: Senator McCarthy I think will be in a very tough
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  Speaker 2: spot because she'll have the indigenous leadership pushing for new architecture,
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  Speaker 2: things like a legislated voice, which could have been done
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  Speaker 2: without a referendum already, things like a Macart commission, making
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  Speaker 2: movements on not just truth telling but treaty. However, I
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  Speaker 2: think there's such little appetite to go down this path
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  Speaker 2: within the government at the moment that I don't think
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  Speaker 2: she'll be given a whole lot of lee way from
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  Speaker 2: I'm the Prime Minister to do things other than the
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  Speaker 2: sort of old fashioned things that governments have done with
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  Speaker 2: Indigenous affairs, which is the practical stuff, education, crime and
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  Speaker 2: these sorts of things. I'd be pretty staked if she
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  Speaker 2: oversaw an ambitious new architecture for Indigenous Australians, but that
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  Speaker 2: is going to be I think a key point of
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  Speaker 2: tension between her and the Prime Minister.
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