NSW Premier Chris Minns will appoint the state’s first female ministers of police, energy, natural resources, regional transport and finance in his new cabinet, marking a historic shift that will put women into 50 per cent of the state government’s frontbench positions.
Minns has announced a slightly reduced cabinet of 22 ministers – down from the Coalition’s 23 – as part of his government’s mandate to “rebuild our essential services” and execute reforms promised ahead of Labor’s election victory.Senior upper house MP Penny Sharpe will be named minister for energy and climate change, environment and heritage. The MP of 18 years will also be the first woman in NSW history to hold the position of leader of the government in the upper house.
Yasmin Catley will be appointed police minister, Tara Moriarty as minister for regional NSW, Courtney Houssos as finance minister and Jenny Aitchison the minister for regional transport. Jihad Dib will take on customer service and digital government, emergency services and youth justice, while David Harris will be the minister for Aboriginal affairs and treaty, gaming and racing, veterans, medical research and the Central Coast.Minns said he was proud of the team he would lead on behalf of NSW, vowing to live up to the promises he made in the face of a cost-of-living crisis.
“We have a clear mandate from the people of NSW to rebuild our essential services, to invest in the people who look after us – our nurses, teachers, paramedics, firefighters and police officers,” he said.