Albanese To Announce New Ministers On Sunday As Burney, O'Connor Step Down

After days of speculation, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed a reshuffle of the cabinet, with the unveiling of the new ministry expected on Sunday.

The Australian federal cabinet will be reshuffled after Labor ministers Linda Burney and Brendan O'Connor decided to step down ahead of their retirement at the next election, reported The Guardian.

Paying tribute to the outgoing ministers, Albanese said, "I am proud to call them my friends. I'm proud to have witnessed firsthand their passion for this nation, their determination to leave the country better for their contribution as members of parliament and as ministers."

"It's time for me to pass the baton to the next generation," Burney, who was the minister for Indigenous Australians and first Aboriginal woman in the lower house, told the media in Sydney. Since 2016, Burney has spent 21 years in politics, and, since 2016, has represented the Sydney seat of Barton. Northern Territory senator Malarndirri McCarthy was being widely tipped to replace Burney as Indigenous affairs minister.

Skills and Training Minister O'Connor, who announced retirement after serving 23 years in politics, said he was giving way for "capable and energetic" colleagues to join the cabinet.

"I've been a minister for every day, federally, [that] Labor has been in office since the election of the Rudd government," O'Connor said. "And I know that I've been very fortunate by anyone's definition."

Elected from Gorton, O'Connor had been a minister during former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard terms, ABC News reported.

Albanese called the reshuffle a "business-as-usual move" and stressed that his government was stable and unified. He added that the retirement of Burney and O'Connor offered a chance to promote new talent in the ministry.