61-year-old Tasmanian Senator, Richard Colbeck (pictured), was announced as the new Minister for both Australia’s oldest and youngest citizens last week – not to mention Minister for Sport (who even knew we had one of those?)
Senator Colbeck has been involved in Australian politics since 2001 and was most recently Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources until being appointed to this new gig.
But why isn’t our Minister for Youth… younger? It’s a fair question.
The reality is that most Liberal senators and MPs over the age of 40, so there’s not a big pool of ‘youth’ politicians to choose from – so, for now, it looks like a Baby Boomer will be overseeing the 18-24 group.
Mr Colbeck is taking over from Ken Wyatt, who has been our Aged Care Minister since January 2017 and has now been appointed Minister for Indigenous Affairs. Senator Wyatt will be the first Indigenous person to serve in the role (and to serve in Cabinet).
In 2019, we say it’s about time!
