TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Australian prime minister to name more conservative cabinet
Change Size
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks at the government offices in Sydney, July. (AP/Rick Rycroft)
A
ustralia's prime minister says he will name a more rightwing cabinet next week after his weakened coalition government scraped through one of the nation's closest ever elections.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's center-right Liberal Party lost at least 14 lawmakers in knife-edge polls on July 2, including some of Turnbull's key moderate supporters. The junior coalition partner, The Nationals, gained a lawmaker.
Turnbull said Wednesday that the Nationals' larger representation in his government entitled the more conservative, rural-based coalition partner to two additional seats in his cabinet.
The Nationals' increased influence has reduced expectations that Turnbull will pursue a more progressive agenda during the government's second three-year term.
The cabinet will be announced shortly after government lawmakers meet Monday for the first time since the election.
