Key supporters of Julia Gillard's rise to the prime ministership have been rewarded in her first frontbench reshuffle.
The changes, announced by Ms Gillard in a Canberra press conference this afternoon, increase the size of her Cabinet from 20 to 22 and confirm Australia will have its first ever female Attorney General.
The portfolio will be taken by Nicola Roxon who once worked as a High Court judge's associate.
She leaves Health, which will be taken over by Tanya Plibersek, one of the reshuffle's clear winners, who rises to Cabinet to take on the role.
The previous Attorney General, Robert McClelland, stays in Cabinet with a new portfolio of Emergency Management.
Announcing the new position, the Prime Minister told reporters she wanted Australia's emergency response represented at the Cabinet table.
“We learn something for every national disaster about how we can be better prepared for the future,” she said.
Bill Shorten, who backed the Gillard leadership coup against Kevin Rudd in June last year, has won a place in Cabinet as Employment and Workplace Relations minister.
The ambitious Victorian leaves behind the job of Assistant Treasurer for a role that draws on his union background. He was National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union before quitting four years ago to take his seat in Federal Parliament.
Mr Shorten takes over workplace relations from Chris Evans, who moves to Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research. Senator Evans remains in Cabinet in line with his position as government leader in the Senate.
Industry Minister Kim Carr leaves Cabinet, relegated to the more junior roles of Minister for Manufacturing and Minster for Defence Materiel.
Some of Cabinet's most contentious figures are unaffected by today's changes. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd keeps foreign affairs. Treasurer Wayne Swan and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen also stay in their present roles.
Small Business Minister Nick Sherry has stepped down from the federal ministry, telling reporters at a morning press conference that he would not contest the next election.
"I've just turned 56 and you do think about these issues a little more when you get a touch older," he said.
His decision has cleared the way for the rise of Julie Collins as Tasmania's representative in the Ministry. She becomes Community Services Minister.
Another prominent Gillard supporter in last year's leadership change, Sports Minister Mark Arbib, has been promoted within the junior ministry to Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business.
Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet takes on an extra responsibility as the Minister for Industry and Innovation.
The reshuffle comes as the Gillard Government confronts a new slip in the opinion polls.
The latest Nielsen poll in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald has Labor with just 43 per cent of the two party preferred vote, down 2 points from the previous poll. Julia Gillard's own rating as preferred Prime Minister has slipped three points to 42 per cent, clearly behind Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on 46 per cent.
Tim Lester is Fairfax's National Bureau Chief.
Email a friend