Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott reshuffled his cabinet on Sunday, promoting the overseer of a tough immigration programme and throwing out his defence minister, Reuters reported. Abbott said the shake-up was for jobs and families and stressed a focus on financial issues as he deals with the fallout of an unpopular belt-tightening budget. "It is a sign that this government wants the economy to be front and centre in the coming year," he told reporters in Canberra. The elevation of Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to social services minister underscored the shift in priorities away from the secretive programme of "turning back the boats" of thousands of asylum seekers that helped it win power a year ago. Defence Minister David Johnston lost his job in the reshuffle which came a month after he embarrassed the government with comments critical of government-owned ship-builder ASC, saying he did not trust it to "build a canoe". Morrison will be replaced by Peter Dutton, a former police detective, in the new portfolio as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Johnston will be replaced by Kevin Andrews. Abbott also appointed a second woman to his cabinet, following criticism of a lack of female representation. Sussan Ley was promoted to minister for health and minister for sport, joining Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. "All of our appointments are on merit," Abbott said when asked if two women was enough. "As time goes by and the number of women in the parliament increases, I'm confident that there will be more."
