Qld drops IT from ministerial title

Queensland's new Labor government has decided to drop IT from its ministerial titles and absorb the technology remit into a wider science and innovation portfolio handed to the state parliament's first female indigenous MP Leeanne Enoch.

Leeanne Enoch

The 14-member cabinet of new Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk - which includes eight women - was sworn in today.

Palaszczuk has made a number of structural changes to the portfolio arrangement of the former LNP government, condensing the number of MPs by five.

As part of the restructure, information technology - formerly led by the Queensland Liberal Party's Ian Walker as Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts - has been removed from the portfolio's title.

Whole-of-government IT investment and digital strategy will now fall under the science and innovation portfolio, handed to Enoch.

[Update 16/02/2015 4:15 pm] Enoch welcomed the appointment in a statement to iTnews.

"Queensland can’t have a modern economy without innovation, especially in information technology," she said.

"That’s why I’m very pleased to take on the science and innovation portfolio and I can assure you that information technology will be a very significant part of the job ahead of me."

Enoch also has responsibility for housing and public works.

Palaszczuk on Sunday said she was confident in her cabinet's ability to do its job.

"This is my cabinet. I have put my rubber stamp on it. I have allocated the portfolios. I have put together the best possible team to serve the population of Queensland," she said.

The last Queensland Labor government was heavily criticised over its role in the IBM Health payroll saga, which has generated in a repair bill of over $1.2 billion and pending legal action.

The new Labor government now will need to decide whether to continue with the lawsuit the recent LNP government initiated against the IT giant.

"Can't see an IT Minister in the new cabinet - from the team that brought us the Health Payroll debacle - not a smart state of affairs!" former IT minister Ian Walker tweeted over the weekend.