The Prime Minister, John Howard, has sacked Amanda Vanstone and Gary Hardgrave and promoted Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey in a reshuffle of his ministry that is more wide-ranging than expected.

Senator Amanda Vanstone, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, has been sacked from Cabinet and the ministry. Her department is to be renamed Immigration and Citizenship and will be taken over by Kevin Andrews. Andrews is replaced as Minister for Workplace Relations by Joe Hockey, who moves into the Cabinet.

The Minister for Vocational and Technical Education, Gary Hardgrave, has also been sacked. His position is taken by Andrew Robb who is promoted from parliamentary secretary to Minister for Vocational and Further Education.

The big winner in the reshuffle is Malcolm Turnbull, who leaps from a parliamentary secretary’s position into the Cabinet as Minister for Environment and Water Resources. [Read more…]