Anthony Albanese, stick and carrot at the ready, prepares for delicate cabinet reshuffle | Karen Middleton

The prime minister will refresh his ministry out of necessity but also use it as a chance to solve some political problems

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There are reshuffles and there are reshuffles.

The first kind of ministerial redesign occurs after an election. In that situation, the frontbench lineup that goes into the election campaign is often not the lineup that comes out, whether through the decisions of voters or the leader.