KEY POINTS:
It is hardly Helen Clark's big, fat bold reshuffle.
There is no Wow! factor in this reshuffle. But she has been bolder than usual in a couple of respects.
She has finally done what she has never done before and demoted a minister on performance.
Mark Burton is out of
the Cabinet altogether - ostensibly to try to keep his Taupo electorate in next year's election.
But he had made a mess of Treaty Negotiations, which Mr Fix-it Michael Cullen, has acquired.
And the jumble that is Justice has gone to Mrs Fix-it, Annette King.
Helen Clark's other bold move, and her biggest risk, is promoting Chris Carter to Education.
Yes, he was a former teacher and his partner is a school principal but Education is an almighty step up from Conservation and Housing. Just ask Trevor Mallard and Steve Maharey.
David Cunliffe deserved a big promotion and got it with Health.
Hodgson always seemed on the backfoot with Health. He will probably be grateful to relinquish it and pick up Trevor Mallard's coveted Economic Development portfolio.
Mallard's punishment in losing that portfolio and his sports related ones, seems harsh.
And it it certainly fitting.
But Clark has actually been quite kind to kind to him and given him a way back.
She has perched on the cusp of the front bench at No 10. By giving him Environment she has given him a relevant and high profile portfolio in election.
And by by giving him Broadcasting, she has given him the platform to exercise his penchant for populist politics and work his way back into the public's affections.
Importantly he also keeps Associate Finance, where he is a very useful Robin to Cullen's Batman.
By comparison with Mallard, Damien O'Connor has been hung, drawn and quartered for his misjudgment in taking a suspended prison guard on a parliamentary trip.
O'Connor lost Corrections and kept only the dregs such as Tourism and Rural Affairs.
Steve Chadwick is a surprise promotion to the Cabinet - outside Cabinet, maybe, but inside Cabinet makes little sense other than satisfying the informal quota system Clark operates by: a woman and of the Left to replace Burton. Winnie Laban was probably more deserving.
Chadwick has a bundle of portfolios that will be hard to stuff up: Conservation and Women's Affairs.
She is also ranked one ahead of Maryan Street, who is actually the big winner of the three newcomers to cabinet. She picks up substantial responsibilities in ACC and Housing.
Shane Jones is ranked last in the cabinet at No 20, perhaps as an anchor to his own ambitions and ego.
A significant part of the reshuffle is in what hasn't happened to Phil Goff. By not giving him the mega-domestic portfolio of Health, Goff is still sitting in the wings available to step up to Finance - without major disruption - when Cullen chooses it is time to go.