Prime Minister John Howard’s reshuffle of federal ministers last week in a bid to inject fresh blood into the cabinet means the financial services industry will again have to deal with new names and faces at the top of the regulatory chain.

He promoted Assistant Treasurer Helen Coonan and former Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Ian Campbell to replace Daryl Williams and David Kemp, who will retire at the next election. Senator Coonan is now Communications Minister. Senator Campbell, who was Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer until last October – when he was appointed Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads – is now Environment Minister.

Queenslander Mal Brough was given a big promotion from Minister for Employment Services to Assistant Treasurer.

Media reports pointed out that Senator Coonan – a former barrister – was not a surprise appointment to the communications portfolio. The Australian described the portfolio as “a lawyer’s paradise” with an increasing focus on regulation, an area in which Ms Coonan is well versed.

Mr Brough comes into the position with little experience of the financial services sector. Senator Campbell’s replacement as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Ross Cameron, has been in the difficult portfolio for nine months, and from some reports has found grasping the intricacies of the Financial Services Reform Act hard going.