[Sanctaria]

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[/hr]POLITICS | OPINIONS | SPORT |NATIONAL | LIFESTYLE | BUSINESS | INTERNATIONAL

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2013

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[/hr]VOL. XCV .. Num. 34,656 | In the News: Junior Ministers -- Golf Legend Dies -- News Anchor Arrested

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NEW MINISTERS FINALLY ANNOUNCED
by SARAH PLEDYS, Political Editor

Sanctus - After pledging on Monday to announce his government's new Junior Ministries, and the Ministers to fill them, before the week was out, the Prime Minister this evening announced to the House of Deputies the list of deputies the cabinet had approved to become junior ministers, as well as the ministries that they would be filling. In keeping with an election promise, Kindle has cut the the number of junior ministries from fourteen to twelve.

Almost half of the twelve junior ministers are women and this was widely expected after Kindle appointed only four women to his cabinet eight months ago. The new junior ministers, and the portfolios they will be occupying, do not have to be confirmed by the Senate and their appointments only had to be confirmed by the cabinet. Procedural legislation to create some of the new ministries were passed by both the House and the Senate in the hours following KIndle's announcement; previously existing junior ministries did not need to be re-established, while the same procedural legislation officially disbanded ministries no longer existing.

The Ministries of Police & Prisons, Food, Economic Planning, Regional Affairs, and Political Reform have all been disbanded and their duties re-assumed by their respective parent Departments. New Ministries include Local Government Affairs, as confirmed on Monday by senior government sources, a new Ministry of Immigration, and the previously announced and created Ministry of Mental Health.

The Department of Home Affairs, Justice & Equality has reverted back to its old name of just Home Affairs. Kindle has said this was because the Department was still referenced as just Home Affairs in public, in the media, and in the civil service and it made sense to re-certify this. He confirmed that it would still continue to house the responsibilities of Justice and Equality. The Ministry of Disability has been renamed to the Ministry of Integration & Equalities "in order to reinforce that equality in all instances was still on this government's agenda", Kindle said in his statement today. Also renamed are the Ministry of Children, which becomes the Ministry of Youth Affairs, and the Ministry of International Trade and Economic Involvement, which becomes simply the Ministry of Trade. Prime Minister Kindle also announced today that the Ministry of Mental Health would also come under the purview of the Department of Education & Science, as well as staying under the Department of Health, and that the Health Department would be losing the Ministry of Integration & Equalities (previous Disability).

Although some of the junior ministries had been filled prior to this, Kindle today said the cabinet had decided to re-confirm all of them. As of the today the list of Ministries and their Ministers are as follows (names in italics indicate new faces to the team, while those in bold are the junior ministers already appointed this year):

Shane Thompson has been appointed Minister for Budget Affairs. He shall also be Government Chief Whip.
Ben Sessions has been appointed Minister for Diplomatic Affairs.
Royce Norn has been appointed Minister for Employment and Labour.
Camille Richardson has been appointed Minister for Higher Education.
Ann Bond has been appointed Minister for Immigration.
Celine Taylor has been appointed Minister for Integration & Equalities.
Marc Foster has been appointed Minister for International Security.
Irving Manson has been appointed Minister for Local Government.
Eric Crowley has been appointed Minister for Mental Health.
John Warren has been appointed Minister for Trade.
Danielle Cordes has been appointed Minister for Transport.
Melanie Shore has been appointed Minister for Youth Affairs.