Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used his first speech to his parliamentary colleagues to promise that his government will do politics in a different and less divisive way.
Key points:
- Anthony Albanese says Labor have a chance to shape the future for the better
- He says parliament will return in the last week of July
- The new Ministry of Labor will be sworn in tomorrow
Albanese was greeted by the Labor caucus, which is the meeting of members of the Labor parliament, with applause and applause, and stifled tears as he ended his speech thanking his team for the “incredible honor” of being prime minister, saying it was “a great thing.”
His speech also looked at the success of the party’s campaign, its vision for the next three years and its hope of re-election after that, but did not reveal who would take on what role in his ministry.
The government bench will be officially sworn in on Wednesday morning.
The prime minister said he was serious about how the party would do to govern and implement the policies it promised.
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“We have the opportunity to shape the future from this position,” he said.
“We need to change the way politics works in this country. We need to be more inclusive.
“We need to be prepared to get there. We need to be prepared to get involved in these issues. We can do that in this parliament.”
Election news:
Albanese went on to say that all Australians need to be involved, including multicultural communities, people of faith and the LGBTIQ community.
He said the election result was a rejection of the previous government’s attempt to “wedge the people” and provoke division.
“We saw it during the election campaign, which highlighted some very vulnerable people … which adds to their defamation,” he said.
“We are a better country than that. We should never do that. Never.”
The caucus meeting was also the first in a series of new MPs, including a number from Western Australia, where Labor experienced a significant shift towards it.
Albanese took the opportunity to pay tribute to former senator Kristina Keneally and former shadow environment minister Terri Butler, who both lost their seats in the election.
He also announced that parliament would return in the last week of July and will travel to Indonesia this Sunday.
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