Australia News AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 OCTOBER 2010 Prime Minister Julia Gillard sworn in INSIDE Julia Gillard has been sworn in as Shortly after the confirmation of T H IS I S S UE Prime Minister of Australia after her election as Prime Minister, Ms one of the closest elections in our Gillard stated her pledge in the role: history. Ms Gillard‘s Australian ―Ours will be a government with Labor Party (ALP) has formed a just one purpose, and that's to serve About Prime minority government with the sup- the Australian people.‖ Minister 2 port of Greens MP Adam Bandt and independent MPs Andrew The election resulted in Liberal Gillard Wilkie, Rob Oakeshott and Tony candidate Ken Wyatt taking the Windsor. marginal seat of Hasluck from La- BC recognises bor, thus becoming the first indige- The result of the election took 17 nous MP elected to the House of Australian 3 days to be finalised after the ALP Representatives. It also saw the initially won 72 of 150 seats in the election of Wyatt Roy to the seat of licences House of Representatives and the Longman, who, at age 20, became Liberal/National Coalition won 73. the youngest ever Australian MP. Australians Both major parties entered into negotiations with the Greens and See page 2 for more on our PM. star at TIFF 4 independents but ultimately the ALP was able to form government. For official results, visit: Prime Minister Julia Gillard vtr.aec.gov.au New DHOM in Ottawa 5 Rudd heads key Cabinet appointments Call Centre On 11 September, PM Gillard Other notable portfolio changes Other new faces include Joseph announced her new Cabinet. include Craig Emerson as the Ludwig as the Minister for Agri- wins service 6 Minister for Trade. For Dr Em- culture, Fisheries and Forestry Key appointments include for- erson, who previously had port- and Chris Bowen as the Minister award mer Prime Minister, Kevin folio responsibility for small for Immigration and Citizenship. Rudd, to the position of Minister business, competition policy, Deputy PM for Foreign Affairs. Mr Rudd consumer affairs and deregula- Wayne Swan, who visited Can- replaces Stephen Smith, who is tion, this marks his first Cabinet ada in June for the G20 Summit, 8 visits Toronto now the Minister for Defence. position. He made his first min- continues as Treasurer (finance Mr Rudd‘s first action as For- isterial visit to Washington, DC. minister) and Deputy Prime eign Minister was to visit the Minister. Minister Rudd ADF and AusAID Australian Former trade minister Simon Medical Task Force in the flood- Crean has been moved to the For a full listing of Cabinet Min- addresses UN 9 affected city of Kot Addu, cen- position of Minister for Regional isters, visit the Prime Minister‘s tral Pakistan, before addressing Australia, Regional Develop- website: summit the United Nations in New York. ment and Local Government and pm.gov.au/The_Ministry/Cabinet Minister for the Arts. AUSTRALIA NEWS OCTOBER 2010 P A G E 1 Who is Australia’s Prime Minister? While Prime Minister Gillard is After graduating, Ms Gillard began From 2003 to 2006 Ms Gillard famously Australia‘s first female work as a solicitor in Melbourne served as Shadow Minister for Prime Minister, her background is with the law firm Slater and Health. On 4 December 2006 Ms not so well known outside of Aus- Gordon. She became a Partner at Gillard was appointed Deputy tralia. The following profile comes the firm in 1990. Ms Gillard's work Leader of the Australian Labor from the Prime Minister‘s website: at the firm focused on employment Party and served as Shadow Minis- law. ter for Employment and Industrial Ms Gillard was born in Barry, Relations and Social Inclusion. Wales in 1961, the daughter of a From 1996 to 1998 she served as nurse and aged care worker. She Chief-of-Staff to the then Opposi- Following the ALP's victory at the and her family migrated to Austra- tion Leader (currently Premier) of 2007 federal election, Ms Gillard lia in 1966 and she grew up in Ade- the State of Victoria, John Brumby. was sworn in as Deputy Prime Min- laide. She was educated at Mitcham ister and Minister for Education, Demonstration School and Unley Ms Gillard won the federal seat of Employment and Workplace Rela- High School in South Australia. Lalor for the ALP in 1998. From tions and Social Inclusion. 1998 to 2001 she served on the Ms Gillard started her arts and law House of Representatives Standing Ms Gillard became Prime Minister degree at the University of Ade- Committee on Employment, Educa- on 24 June, 2010, succeeding Kevin laide. In 1983 she was elected Na- tion and Workplace Relations. Rudd. tional Education Vice-President of the Australian Union of Students In 2001 Ms Gillard was appointed She is a passionate supporter of the (AUS) and moved to Melbourne to Shadow Minister (opposition critic) Western Bulldogs Football Club. complete her degree at the Univer- for Population and Immigration sity of Melbourne. and subsequently took on responsi- Read more on the Prime Minister at bilities for Reconciliation and In- Later that year, she was elected digenous Affairs in 2003. pm.gov.au President of the AUS. High-powered line up for inaugural Australia-Canada Leadership Forum * the most effective models for developing and building The future dimensions of the Australia-Canada partner- infrastructure that will underpin both countries‘ com- ship will feature prominently at a gathering of high-level petitiveness and productivity business, government and academic leaders from Aus- tralia and Canada that will take place in Sydney, Austra- * the options that are open to Australia and Canada to lia from 16-18 November. This event - the Australia- foster more liberalised trade and investment and to work Canada Economic Leadership Forum – promises to gen- towards economic integration, and erate some fresh and original thinking on the way for- ward. * the lessons that Canada and Australia can learn from one another in their approaches to promoting innovation, The discussion will revolve around the following key research and technology, and the options for maximising themes: productive collaboration between the two countries. * the lessons that Canada can learn from Australia‘s The line up of influential participants in the Forum – approach to developing its economic links with Asia from business, academia, and government – is impres- and, in the same vein, the lessons that Australia can sive and gives us cause for optimism that the discussions learn from the Canadian approach to developing trade will represent a major step forward in renewing and en- and investment links with Latin America hancing the partnership between our two countries. AUSTRALIA NEWS OCTOBER 2010 P A G E 2 Oil sands visit Michael Googan, Second Secretary at the High Commission (pictured at right), was recently invited to join a number of Canadian Senators and other delegates on a tour of Alberta‘s oil sands. On arrival in Calgary, Mr Googan was welcomed with a traditional Albertan ‗white hat‘ greeting. From there, he vis- ited a number of sites. He attended a variety of information ses- sions hosted by the Alberta Government, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and other interest groups. Australia to host energy summit Australia will host the 3rd Asia Pacific Partnership Energy Regulatory and Mar- ket Development Forum conference in Sydney on 3-5 November 2010. Further information is available from: ret.gov.au British Columbia joins Ontario in recognising Australian driver licences In positive news for the many Aus- bility requirements indicated on the ments with all other Canadian prov- tralians living in Canada‘s western- ICBC website. Licences can be inces and territories. Currently, most province, residents of British exchanged at any ICBC licensing Australian licences are recognised Columbia are now able to exchange office for a cost of C$31. only in Ontario and British Colum- their Australian driver‘s licence for bia, although licences from all Ca- a B.C. licence without having to The Australian Government wel- nadian provinces and territories undergo a driving test. comed the developments in B.C. as have been fully recognised in all such arrangements are valuable in Australian jurisdictions for some The Insurance Corporation of Brit- facilitating the two-way movement time. ish Columbia (ICBC), which is of skilled personnel between Aus- responsible for driver licensing and tralia and Canada and promoting For more information, visit: vehicle registration in the province, commercial links. icbc.com/driver-licensing/moving- recognises Australian drivers pro- bc/other-country/australia vided that they have two years of The Australian Government is seek- driving experience and meet eligi- ing to put in place similar arrange- AUSTRALIA NEWS OCTOBER 2010 P A G E 3 Canadian Naval Centennial Fleet Review From 9-14 June Australia was repre- sented by the Navy Ship HMAS Newcastle at a traditional Fleet Re- view to celebrate the Centennial of the Canadian Navy in Victoria, BC. A fleet review is a Royal Navy tradi- tion dating back to 1415 that was originally intended as a means of demonstrating the strength of a na- tion‘s naval fleet. Nowadays, fleet reviews are ceremonial. The Review featured ten Canadian ships and 13 from five foreign navies and coast guards. The Review began with a Parade of Nations in downtown Victoria. The HMAS Newcastle pictured during the Canadian Naval Centennial Fleet parade featured the sailors of the Review in Victoria, British Columbia. visiting nations, as well as a fire- works display, a rock concert, a dis- The highlight of the review saw all The efforts of our sailors on board play by the Canadian Forces Sky participating ships gathered along- HMAS Newcastle went a long way to Hawks skydiving team, a fly past by side ships of the Canadian Fleet at reinforcing the very strong bond maritime aircraft and a performance the Royal Roads anchorage and the between the Australian and Canadian by the renowned Canadian Air Force Canadian Navy flagship carried the Navies.