Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I inform the House that the Minister for Defence will be absent from question time today as he participates in the 14th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection will answer questions on his behalf.

Earlier this week, I announced some changes to the ministry as part of measures to strengthen our counterterrorism arrangements in our efforts to counter violent extremism. These changes included the appointment of the Minister for Justice to be minister assisting me on counterterrorism. I am pleased to advise the House that the swearing-in ceremony took place at Government House this morning. For the information of members, I table an updated list of the full ministry.