Anika Wells appointed communications minister, Rowland moves to AG
Sport minister Anika Wells has picked up the communications portfolio in a reshuffle of cabinet announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this afternoon.
Incumbent Michelle Rowland, who holds a law degree, moves to the Attorney-General (the AG is required by convention to have a law degree).
Anthony Albanese makes the annoucement.
Albanese said that Wells was an appropriate appointment given the impending 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
“Anika has played a really important role in getting that together, so that will be an important part of her remit.”
Rowland leaves Wells a great deal of unfinished business in the communications portfolio. The News Bargaining Incentive has been flagged but not developed, there is the issue of gambling advertising reform, and also the question of local content quotas for global streaming plaforms.
The PM was asked about Wells’ commitment to gambling advertising leglisation but would not be drawn.
Anika Wells
Wells, who is 39, is considered a rising star of Labor’s right faction. Hailing from Queensland and also holding a law degree, she was handed the Sport and Aged Care in 2022.
“I’ve got people I think who are in the best positions,” Albanese said. “I think we’ve got the right people in the right places.”
Wells’ previous ministerial performance gives some indication of her polished and forceful style. The following statement, which she made to aged care providers in 2022, could equally well be applied to many in the media world: “Are you contributing ideas and solutions to the national debate, or is your contribution merely admiring the scale and the complexity of the problem?”
Rowland’s ascension to the Attorney-General role can been seen as a vindication of her work in communications. She replaces Mark Dreyfus, who was cut from cabinet amid factional manoeuvring in the wake of Labor’s historic election win.
How can we protest against the removal of Mark Dreyfus and Ed Husic? we’re so powerless after all..
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