澳移民部长遭撤职，移民政策何往？

霍华德今天重组内阁后，原移民部部长阿满达·温斯瑞(Amanda Vanstone)的命运犹如雾里探花，因为重组后的内阁没有温斯瑞一席之地，她被霍华德安排到了联合同盟的位置上。取而代之的内阁新成员是悉尼百万富翁兼市议员Malcolm Turnbull。 新的移民部部长是凯文·安德鲁斯(Kevin Andrews)，移民部将被重新命名为“移民与国籍部”。霍华德赞扬温斯瑞在职期间尽忠职守。

安德鲁斯之前的位置，劳工关系部部长，将由祖·霍基(Joe Hockey)接任。他将与工党的副主席吉拉(Julia Gillard)对峙。Turnbull与预期一样进入内阁，他的反对党对头饰Peter Garrett。同时进驻的还有环境与水资源部长。

工党领袖陆文克称这次内阁的重组没有任何新意。温斯瑞为自己身为移民部部长时的表现辩护并且称正在考虑未来的从政方向。温斯瑞离开后的内阁，只剩下两名女性，但是霍华德否认他忽略女性。

“我不认为自由党内这些智慧女性会做这样的结论。每次的变动都会引来一些谣言，太老套了。”同时他也赞扬了温斯瑞在职期间的优秀表现，“她是一个多姿多彩的人，努力工作，尽职尽守。”

他说，霍基会带入新的能量和智能到劳工关系的治理领域。“祖是一个中和的人，他就像一个叔父一样的家伙。”霍华德说，无可置疑，气候变异，以及水资源短缺等问题是今年政府需要解决的两大问题。

另一个著名的议员，安德鲁·罗伯(Andrew Robb)，被提升到了培训与再教育部。罗伯因在国籍事务处理上的表现出色而被提拔进入内阁。霍华德称，他的新队伍是一个很好的混合体，并且预测10月份的联邦大选会是一场硬仗。“我作出了一些艰难的决定，我就经验和能力作为衡量组成了现在这支新队伍。我想现在队伍有足够的能量行动。”但陆文克依然不以为然，“霍华德新内阁并没有覆盖到主要的问题，例如，没有新的解决教育，气候变异以及高消费等问题的方案。”

霍华德否认内阁重组如此大的变动是因为对联邦大选信心不足。“我觉得，一个没有自信的政府只会固步自封，而不敢作出任何变动。”前环境部长Ian Campbell也被踢出内阁，接任人员服务部部长。

已经不在内阁的温斯瑞今天下午说，作为移民部部长，我被迫做一些很难的也不受人们欢迎的决定，这些决定影响到许多个人的每日生活基础。这些决定许多时候需要考虑全国的利益，而不是个人的利益。除了温斯瑞，被踢出内阁的还有参议员Rod Kemp，Gary Hardgrave和Sandy Macdonald。

Kemp已经决定不再保留其席位，Hardgrave面临一场保留其席位的硬仗，Macdonald则已经在选举中输了。其它变动包括，被降职到环境与水资源部助理的国会议员John Cobb原任小区服务部长，取而代之的是国家自由党参议员，来自北领地的Nigel Scullion。昆士兰州参议员George Brandis被提升为体育部部长，取代Kemp。

Cabinet reshuffle

23 January 2007

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding the Cabinet reshuffle today, I will take some time to consider my future.

After 22 years representing South Australia in the Senate and almost 11 years as a Minister (eight of them in Cabinet), now seems an appropriate time to assess what might lie ahead.

Given the wealth of talent representing the Coalition over the past 11 years and at the present time, I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve in a variety of portfolios since the election of the Howard Government in 1996.

One of the privileges of my ministerial responsibilities has been to work with many highly professional and dedicated public servants. Their work to build a better Australia all too often goes unrecognised.

I also extend my sincerest thanks to my personal staff, both past and present, who have also worked tirelessly over the years in the service of the Government.

As Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, I have been required to make difficult and sometimes unwelcome decisions affecting individuals, almost on a daily basis. These decisions have always had to be in the national interest, rather than what individual people might prefer.

The Prime Minister faces a similarly difficult task in any Cabinet reshuffle and today’s is no exception. After today’s announcement, some with Ministerial ambitions have had their hopes realised, while others will no doubt be disappointed. This reflects the wealth of talent available to the Prime Minister in forming his Ministry.