Victorian Premier John Brumby has named Martin Pakula as the State’s new Minister for Public Transport, while also retaining his
Victorian Premier John Brumby has named Martin Pakula as the State’s new Minister for Public Transport, while also retaining his role as Minister for Industrial Relations.
The Premier says Pakula has forged a career in standing up for working Victorians and this will continue in his new role as Public Transport Minister.
“Martin will begin his time in this role riding the public transport network and speaking to passengers about the service.
“Martin has the clear priorities of being an advocate for public transport users and driving the transformation of the public transport network under our $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan,” he says.
Brumby also announced that Lily D’Ambrosio would be promoted to Cabinet and serve as Minister for Community Development.
“Lily has served a committed and impressive apprenticeship as Parliamentary Secretary in the Community Development portfolio since 2006,” he says.
“Lily is a great success story both in terms of multiculturalism and Melbourne’s northern suburbs. She is committed to building stronger communities that support and provide opportunities for working families.”
Brumby adds that Jacinta Allan will head an economic development super-portfolio, to secure new investment and new jobs across the State, by adding the portfolio of Industry and Trade to her existing portfolio of Regional and Rural Development.
“Jacinta will focus on using the full resources of Government to support and create new job opportunities and investment in communities across Victoria,” he says.
“I want the Victorian economy to continue to be one of the leading economies in the worldwide recovery from the global financial crisis. Creating and securing investment and jobs for Victorian families is crucial to maintaining Victoria’s competitive edge.”
The Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike, will also take on the Skills and Workforce Participation portfolio.
“Bronwyn is successfully delivering the biggest investment in schools in the State’s history – through our Government’s Victorian Schools Plan to rebuild, renovate or extend every school in the State and the Commonwealth’s Building the Education Revolution program,” he says.
The Minister for Planning, Justin Madden, will also take on the role as Minister for the Respect Agenda to coordinate the Government’s actions to address social issues such as alcohol related violence, family violence and racial tolerance.
The Minister for Energy and Resources, Peter Batchelor, will also become Victoria’s new Minister for the Arts; while the Minister for Health, Daniel Andrews, will be promoted to the Expenditure Review Committee that deliberates over the Victorian State Budget.
Brumby also announced a number of changes to Parliamentary Secretary responsibilities, namely:
- Rob Hudson as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier for National Reform, Arts and Public Service
- Ben Hardman as Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Bushfire Reconstruction
- Don Nardella as Parliamentary Secretary in the portfolio of Roads and Ports
- Janice Munt as Parliamentary Secretary for Health
- Brian Tee as Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport.