by Cam Lucadou-Wells
Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams has been tasked with the Government’s rental reforms in Premier Jacinta Allan’s Cabinet shuffle announced today.
Williams will be appointed as Minister for Government Services, Consumer Affairs and Public and Active Transport – and lead the Department of Government Services.
She has been reassigned from the First Peoples and Treaty, Mental Health and Ambulance Services portfolios.
The Government’s rental reforms announced in the recently-unveiled Housing Statement will be part of Williams’s Consumer Affairs portfolio – which was formerly held by Danny Pearson.
The Housing Statement – which includes the creation of 800,000 new homes as well as social housing – was identified by Allan as the government’s core work.
Water and Equality Minister Harriet Shing will be the new Housing Minister, charged with overseeing the government’s Big Housing Build.
The newly-created Public and Active Transport ministry recognised that walking and cycling were key parts of liveability in growing suburbs, Allan stated.
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, who formerly held the Public Transport portfolio, is in charge of Education and Medical Research.
Carrum MP Sonya Kilkenny retains the Planning ministry and has also become Minister for the Suburbs. She is charged with driving a contentious “package of planning reforms” under the Housing Statement.
This involves “clearing the backlog of approvals, making sure good decisions are made faster and guiding the way our suburbs grow”.
Mordialloc MP Tim Richardson retains the parliamentary secretary roles for health infrastructure and for mental health and suicide prevention.
Williams’s former portfolio, Mental Health, has been assigned to Ageing and Multicultural Affairs Minister Ingrid Stitt.
The Ambulance Services portfolio has shifted to Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas, and First Peoples and Treaty will be among Jobs and Industry Minister Natalie Hutchins’s responsibilities.
