In a move that stunned critics in the press gallery, Julia Gillard has promoted the well-known blogger Bob Carr – whisking him into Parliament as a Senator and instantly appointing him Minister for Foreign Affairs.

This is the first time in Australian history a blogger has been promoted so fast.

Bob Carr sworn in by a laughing Governor General and smiling Prime Minister

Canberra sources say astonished public servants in the Department of Foreign Affairs are burning midnight oil pouring through every cached version of Bob Carr’s blog to locate opinions that need to be fixed immediately. The organisation has no corporate memory of ministers with their own opinions.

For his part, newly-appointed Minister Carr is understood to be undergoing intense re-education to stamp out any lingering independent ideas. It seems to be working. Carr has disowned his former shocking opinion that attacking Libya was a bad idea. This morning, Senator Carr made acceptably crass remarks about the need for regime change in Syria.

The press gallery are understood to be furious over Carr’s appointment, not only because it made most of them look like prize idiots. They also believe if anyone is to be parachuted directly into Cabinet it should be a member of the media elite.