Aussie PM loses 2 more ministers
SYDNEY: Australia’s defence minister and his deputy both announced they were quitting politics yesterday, bringing to five the number of cabinet members retiring as Prime Minister Scott Morrison heads into a fraught election.
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, the most moderate remaining member of Morrison’s conservative coalition government, said he was stepping down at the next election, due by mid-May, to begin a business career.
The junior defence minister, Steven Ciobo, announced separately that he would also not contest the May election and would give up his portfolio immediately.
Pyne, who was responsible for managing government business in Parliament, batted aside suggestions the string of recent ministerial retirements was motivated by the prospect of their Liberal party losing the upcoming election to opposition Labor, as predicted by opinion polls.
Morrison moved quickly to fill the gap, announcing that Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds, a former army brigadier, would replace Ciobo immediately as minister for defence industries, and would replace Pyne as defence minister if the Liberals win. A man performs the bullfight of ‘Recortadores da Arte Lusa’ during Bullfighting Day at the Campo Pequeno bullfighting arena in Lisbon recently. Bullfighters in Portugal are trying to seduce a new audience in a bloodless show to stop the decline of a culture criticised by animal rights defenders.