Julie Bishop - Member for Curtin

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Details

Published on Friday, 02 March 2012 05:17

The appointment of former NSW Premier Bob Carr as Minister for Foreign Affairs by Prime Minister Julia Gillard is a vote of no confidence in her entire caucus.

Prime Minister Gillard was unable to identify one person within her current Cabinet or parliamentary party with the ability to undertake one of the most senior and sensitive roles in the Federal Government.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Carr will face a range of challenges including repairing relationships damaged by Prime Minister Gillard.

He must commit to a focus on our region and in particular to repairing the relationship with Indonesia, making Papua New Guinea one of the government’s highest priorities and building relations with the nations of the Indian Ocean rim.

Mr Carr will need to work hard to overcome the self-professed lack of interest in foreign affairs of the Prime Minister, who has blundered from mistake to disaster whenever she has ventured into this policy area.