New Australian prime minister flags more women in Cabinet

Malcolm Turnbull makes an address at Parliament after he was sworn in as prime minister in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015. Turnbull was sworn in as Australia’s 29th prime minister after a surprise ballot of his conservative Liberal Party colleagues voted 54-44 on Monday night to replace Prime Minister Tony Abbott only two years after he was elected. AP

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday flagged that more women would be included in his first Cabinet to be sworn in Monday.

“There is no greater enthusiast than me for seeing more women in positions of power and influence in Parliament, in ministries right across the country,” Turnbull told reporters in his first news conference as prime minister.

“I am very committed to that, but I am not going to say any more about the new ministerial arrangements,” he said.

Turnbull replaced his unpopular predecessor Tony Abbott in a surprise leadership vote of lawmakers in the ruling conservative Liberal Party on Monday night.

Abbott was widely criticized for including only two women in his 19-member Cabinet, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Health Minister Sussan Ley. Bishop was the only woman in Abbott’s first Cabinet sworn in in 2013.

Turnbull said there would be “some changes” in his Cabinet, but gave no indication of the scale. He declined to comment on the future of the government’s chief economic minister, Treasurer Joe Hockey.

In challenging Abbott’s leadership, Turnbull indirectly attacked Hockey with the criticism that “the government is not successful in providing the economic leadership that we need.”

The government’s popularity plunged in opinion polls and never recovered after Hockey revealed his first annual budget in May last year. That budget was widely criticized as unfair toward the poor.

Hockey revealed on Wednesday that he had had discussions about his future with Turnbull, suggesting he might accept another ministry.

Turnbull said he had spoken to Abbott since his ouster, but did not know whether the former prime minister intended to stay in Parliament.

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