Now assistant minister for health and aged care will become minister for aged care and Indigenous health in latest reshuffle

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Ken Wyatt will be the first Indigenous person to be appointed to the commonwealth ministry when he becomes the minister for aged care and Indigenous health in a reshuffle announced on Wednesday.

Wyatt, now assistant minister for health and aged care, was the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and the first to be appointed to the executive of the commonwealth government.

Announcing the reshuffle, Malcolm Turnbull said Wyatt’s “extensive knowledge and experience as a senior public servant in Indigenous health, coupled with his work as an assistant minister in this portfolio, makes him an ideal minister for this area”.

Wyatt later tweeted that he was “deeply honoured” by the appointment.

Ken Wyatt MP (@KenWyattMP) Deeply honoured to be appointed Minister for Aged Care, and Minister for Indig Health. Thank you all for the kind words of support!

In earlier comments describing his appointment to assistant minister, Wyatt told Guardian Australia in October 2015 that it was “surreal” and “a privilege”.

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“Any Indigenous Australian has the capacity and capability of achieving their aspirations,” he said. “There are a whole lot of barriers that impact on each of us individually, but you work to rise above those. And so the symbolism of being on the frontbench is a tremendous one.”

Wyatt, a Liberal MP from Western Australia, represents the seat of Hasluck after being re-elected in 2013 and 2016. He is one of five Indigenous Australians in the federal parliament, along with Labor’s Linda Burney, Pat Dodson and Malarndirri McCarthy, and the independent senator Jacqui Lambie.

Before entering parliament Wyatt had a 15-year career in public health and Aboriginal education and worked for 13 years as a primary school teacher.

In parliament he has been an opponent of amending section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act but softened his stance on a review of the law that prohibits speech that offends, insults, humiliates or intimidates a person based on their race.

In November Wyatt told Guardian Australia he was open to a review of the law “if it is creating a sore within free speech”. He said he was “probably leaning towards” reviewing the words in 18C, perhaps removing the words “insult” and “offend” and replacing them with a prohibition on vilification instead.

Wyatt supports recognition of Indigenous Australians in the constitution but has publicly opposed including a non-discrimination clause, warning it would act as a de facto bill of rights and was “highly unlikely to be supported”.