Australia's New Prime Minister announces peace-making Cabinet

PM Scott Morrison. Pics/AFP

Australia's new prime minister announced a peace-making Cabinet yesterday that does not punish his rivals in a bruising power struggle that ousted his predecessor days ago and divided a government that lags in opinion polls.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison won a ballot of government lawmakers for the leadership on Friday against rival Peter Dutton. Morrison had been loyal to his predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, whom Dutton had demanded prove he had the support of ruling Liberal Party lawmakers in a ballot. Turnbull resigned.

Morrison, who last week was the treasurer, returned Dutton to the home affairs ministry he had held under Turnbull. Mathias Cormann, a party power broker who backed Dutton, retained his finance portfolio.

Julie Bishop

Foreign minister quits amid fallout
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, a rare female voice in the Australian government, said on Sunday she was quitting the frontbench after a failed tilt at the nation's top job during a messy party-room coup. The deputy chief of the Liberal Party, Bishop had put her hand up to be one of three candidates to replace former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in Friday's leadership challenge, but received minimal support from colleagues even as opinion polls pointed to her popularity among voters. Her departure has raised questions about whether she fell victim to party politics and a perceived glass ceiling for women in Canberra.

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