After former treasurer Tim Pallas announced his resignation from politics on Monday, December 16, there had been much speculation about who would take on the role.
Premier Jacinta Allan announced a cabinet reshuffle on Thursday, December 19, including the appointment of Ms Symes to her new role.
“I am delighted to present my new cabinet team, who are a strong and focused team on the issues that are important to the Victorian community,” Ms Allan said.
“I’d like to acknowledge our new treasurer, Jaclyn Symes. Jaclyn is a smart, hardworking, dedicated member of parliament, representing her community for a decade.
“As treasurer, she’ll bring new ideas and new energy to the portfolio — ensuring that every dollar of investment is focused on supporting families and frontline services.
“I am particularly proud to note that Jaclyn is the first woman in Victoria’s history to serve in the role of treasurer ... and that is something that I think reflects enormously on Jaclyn’s great work ethic, great dedication and commitment.”
Ms Symes said she was excited about her new role.
“It’s an incredible honour to be asked by the premier to take on this challenge, take on this portfolio, and I am going to throw everything at it,” she said.
“I will be focusing on what’s important to Victorian families, as we know, cost of living, future jobs, mortgages ... I want to talk to families more about what they want from their new treasurer.
“It’s not just about the state budget, it’s also about household budgets.”
Ms Symes will also serve as the industrial relations minister and the regional development minister, and become the leader of the government in the Legislative Council.
She will no longer serve as the attorney-general or the emergency services minister, roles that she has held since 2020 and 2021, respectively.
“Leaving attorney (-general) and emergency services is hard, but I am excited about a new challenge,” Ms Symes said.
Sonya Kilkenny will serve as the new attorney general, while Vicki Ward will become the new minister for emergency services.
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell spoke out on Thursday before the appointment of the new emergency services minister, hoping that they would continue to advocate for regional Victoria.
“I think we will definitely have a new emergency services minister today, we’ve seen some announcements this week ... we’ve also seen an emergency services volunteer fund announced that doesn’t have funding for our local Shepparton Search and Rescue fund or the Echuca Moama Search and Rescue fund,” Ms Lovell said.
“The treasury website clearly sets out what organisations will be funded ... but we have the only two independent squads in the state here in the north-east, and they have not included those as organisations that will (receive funding).”
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