LITTLE CHANGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 72, 22 September 1943, Page 5

LITTLE CHANGE

AUSTRALIAN CABINET CANBERRA, September 21. With the exception of the fact that the portfolios of Transport and. External Territories are now held by Mr. E. J. Ward, the former Minister of Labour, there is little change in the new Federal Cabinet, which was sworn in today by the GovernorGeneral. Mr. Ward is succeeded as Minister of Labour by Mr. E. J. Holloway, the former Minister of Health and Social Services. The other portfolios are as follows:— Prime Minister and Defence, Mr. J. Curtin; Army, Mr. F. M. Forde; Treasurer and Minister of Post-war Reconstruction, Mr. J. B. Chifley; AttorneyGeneral and External Affairs, Dr. H. V. Evatt; Supply and Shipping, Mr. J. A. Beasley; Navy and Munitions, Mr. N. J. Makin; Trade and Customs, Senator R. V. Keane; Air and Civil Aviation, Mr. A. S. Drakeford; Commerce and Agriculture, Mr. W. J. Scully; Postmaster-General and VicePresident of the Executive Council, Senator W. P. Ashley; War Organisation and Research, Mr. J. J. Dedman; Interior, Senator J. S. Collings; Health and Social Services, Senator J. M. Fraser; Repatriation and War Service Homes, Mr. C. W. Frost; Home Security, Mr. H. P. Lazzarini; Aircraft Production, Senator G. Cameron; Information, Mr. A. A. Calwell. The members of the War Cabinet will be Messrs. Curtin, Forde, Chifley, Beasley, Makin, Drakeford, and Evatt. The appointment of Mr. Calwell to the Department of Information has caused some surprise, because he has maintained a feud with the newspapers for years. The Cabinet will hold its first meeting tomorrow to deal with the Budget, which is to be introduced next week. Tomorrow the depleted Opposition parties will discuss their leadership and whether the United Australia Party and Country Party should continue to work jointly in Parliament. Commenting on the election to the new Cabinet, the "Daily Telegraph" in an editorial says: "Unfortunately, the rigid conservatism of the Labour Party now becomes a national weakness, because Caucus has decided to entrust Australia's affairs in the coming difficult years to Ministers of ordinary talents. Of cour:/.\ Labour's 'four/ the Messrs. Curtin, Beasley, Evatt, and Chifley will do the job, and these men will again give more than a fair share of their time and brain-power to patching up mistakes for their less wellendowed colleagues. "Within a year Mr. Curtin will have to reshuffle the portfolios and bring in men whom the Caucus has ignored."