Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney have resigned from the ministry and will not contest the next election, kickstarting a reshuffle of the Labor government’s cabinet.
Addressing reporters in Canberra alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, O’Connor and Burney said their decisions to retire from politics were fuelled by a desire to spend more time with family.
The decision to step down was appropriate, O’Connor said, given the way the government has handled the skills and training sector.
“I am very pleased that I am leaving a portfolio in pretty good nick for the successor,” he said.
“There have been very significant reforms and significant investment in a tertiary sector, a sector that has frankly been underfunded historically,” he said.
“The Prime Minister had the foresight to provide me an opportunity to represent that sector and that has not happened under any federal government in this way.”
O’Connor said the government, along with state and territory ministers, struck the National Skills Agreement, a multi-billion dollar deal to deliver vocational training nationwide.
Half a million Australians have signed up for fee-free TAFE since Labor’s election victory, O’Connor added.
Other major milestones in O’Connor’s handling of the portfolio include the Jobs and Skills Summit, leading to the foundation of Jobs and Skills Australia, a new advisory body informing the federal government on the nation’s skills requirements.
A review of the apprenticeship support system, which is still underway, will be a matter for the next Skills Minister to respond to.
“I think that is going to be really good for the incoming ministers to have to respond to in time,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor will step down after 23 years on the frontbench in various Labor governments, including a stint as Minister for Small Business between 2012 and 2013.
Burney said it was time to “pass the baton to the next generation”.
Reflecting on the Voice referendum, Burney said it “didn’t deliver the outcome we had hoped, but I think history will treat it kindly.
“But I know in my heart, I gave all that I could to close the gap and to advance reconciliation.”
Both O’Connor and Burney will continue to serve in Parliament until the next election.
Their ministerial replacements will be determined through a party caucus process, with Albanese set to announce the new-look cabinet on Sunday.
Albanese said the ministerial reshuffle will be the last before the next federal election.
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Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
