Congratulations to Senator Seselja on being promoted in today’s Ministerial Reshuffle to be the Minister for International Development and the Pacific.

In his announcement, the Prime Minister said:

Senator the Honourable Zed Seselja will be promoted to the ministry as Minister for International Development and the Pacific. The Government's demonstrated commitment to our Pacific family very real, even right now, as cyclones go through Fiji I was in contact yesterday morning with Prime Minister Bainimarama assuring him of our steadfast support to be there for them in their time of need which he greatly appreciated. Our Step Up to our Pacific family is felt very deeply by our Pacific family and friends and this is a matter that is critically important to the Government.

Zed has a great experience in the Parliament. He's served in a number of Assistant Minister roles and I think that brings great added benefit, particularly to our Senate team... There is also the work that we announced most recently at the ASEAN and East Asia Summits where we have upped our level of investment in the ASEAN region, particularly in many of the development projects which sit in the Mekong Delta. This is also important to Australia's engagement with the region and that has been incredibly well received.

He will also play a key role in ensuring that we roll out the vaccine in our Pacific family into the new year. Being an ACT Senator situates him also very well with all the various embassies and missions that are here in the ACT, which enables him to work well with those development partners as part of those roles.

You can read more about the new Ministry on the Prime Minister’s website here.