Australia cabinet reshuffle prompts calls for intled “refinement”

Clare O’Neil, who had been serving as home affairs minister for two years – overseeing the Nixon Review and the Migration Strategy – has been moved to the housing and homelessness portfolio.

Meanwhile, Andrew Giles, the former immigration minister, will move into the skills and training ministry – but the post will now be demoted from cabinet to the outer ministry.

O’Neil’s relationship with the sector has been decidedly turbulent, with recent proposed changes to the ESOS Act, graduate visa revamps – including some u-turns on certain aspects of those revamps – increased scrutiny of student visas, and a cap on international students with little detail on implementation that has caused upset among major sector bodies, especially in the VET sector.

But Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, made little mention of O’Neil’s time in the home affairs portfolio – saying instead that she is a “great communicator” who would “lead the delivery of the Homes for Australia plan” as the news housing minister.

Despite the demotion from cabinet, Universities Australia’s CEO said that Giles’ appointment to the skills and training portfolio “comes at a crucial time of reform for Australia’s tertiary education system”.

“Australia needs a strong pipeline of skilled workers to drive our future prosperity. Universities, along with TAFE and VET providers have a central role to play.

“Universities look forward to working with Minister Giles to increase participation in tertiary education and deliver the skilled workers Australia needs now and into the future,” said Luke Sheehy.

The Group of Eight also said they would want to work “closely” with Giles to ‘Ensure universities continued to play an integral role in the upskilling of the Australian workforce”.

However, it is already seeking an “urgent meeting” with the incoming minister for home affairs – and immigration – to re-examine the current approach to the sector from the ministry.

Vicki Thomson, the chief executive, said an opportunity was on the table for the government to “refine and review its migration strategy to address any unintended consequences” befalling the industry.

The Go8 is committed to working with the Government… we are however extremely concerned about the current policy approach

Vicki Thomson, Group of Eight

“The Go8 is committed to working with the Government… we are however extremely concerned about the current policy approach to the international education sector. 

“For example, the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 before Parliament that seeks to introduce ministerially mandated caps for international students will have devastating consequences for Australia’s $48 billion international education sector that will take years to recover from,” Thomson continued.

Both organisations praised the previous minister for skills and training, Brendan O’Connor, whose retirement partly prompted the reshuffle – with Thomson praising his “collaborate approach to ensuring Australia’s labour market is fit for purpose”.

PM Albanese said that Burke’s previous experience as immigration minister in Julia Rudd’s government in 2013 should give him some leave to help deal with a “challenging portfolio”.