Saffin attends meeting of new govt

FEDERAL Page MP Janelle Saffin flew to Canberra yesterday for this morning's first Caucus meeting of the new Labor Minority Government.

Among the discussions of policies and the new Parliament, there will be plenty of talk about regional Australia, Ms Saffin said – ‘which suits me just fine'.

“These are the priorityissues for me. Some of it was happening already, but now there will be a lot more,” she said.

Asked if there would be any talk of Cabinet positions, Ms Saffin said she doubted it, ‘though anything can happen'.

However, she added: “I have a gut feeling that there won't be a lot of change.”

Richmond MP Justine Elliot would not be drawn on likely Cabinet positions, or the likelihood of her holding on to her job as Minister for Ageing. She said she looked forward to continuing to deliver positive outcomes for regional areas.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said she would have her new Cabinet sworn in early next week and that the team would be judged on their merits.

She is expected to appoint Kevin Rudd as foreign minister and bring in new Labortalent, including Jason Clare, Mike Kelly, Gary Gray and Mark Dreyfus.

The Cabinet could make history if Independent MP Rob Oakeshott decides to take up the Labor leader's offer to make him Minister for Reg-ional Australia – part of the deal to gain the support of the Lyne MP and fellow Independent Tony Windsor to stay in government.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith could be switched to defence, though Greg Combet has been also mentioned for the role, after proving himself in the junior defence portfolio.

Chris Bowen has been raised in Labor circles as a possible finance minister in the wake of Lindsay Tanner's retirement.