John Armstrong: New job takes McCully out of the firing line

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Murray McCully's demise have a habit of being greatly exaggerated.

It is therefore risky to read too much into the drastic change in roles for Don Brash's closest adviser, part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of National's shadow Cabinet.

It can be safely assumed, however, that Mr McCully's surprise appointment as foreign affairs spokesman is designed to make his presence behind the Brash throne less obvious. Whether his influence is thereby reduced is another matter.

By voluntarily dropping the title of parliamentary assistant to the leader, the backroom fixer and perennial target when things go wrong has heeded the "Get McCully" rumblings within the caucus and saved face at the same time via the status accorded to his new job.

But the echoes of Winston Peters' appointment as foreign minister - the pair are equally matched in their inexperience in the portfolio - stop right there.

Mr McCully has also been put there as an "attack" politician to hit the Government hard at its most crucial yet most vulnerable nexus.

Meanwhile, he is likely to remain within the inner core of Dr Brash's advisers - at least in the short-term.

The change in Mr McCully's role has to be seen as a victory for his critics within the Bill English faction, especially as the former leader's rock- solid performance has been rewarded with No 3 ranking in the caucus behind Dr Brash and Gerry Brownlee.

The McCully factor somewhat obscures the fact that yesterday's reshuffle of caucus responsibilities - Dr Brash's third since becoming leader - is his most effective.

The shake-up puts senior MPs on notice to perform and addresses shortcomings in the previous line-up. It flags generational change. And it achieves all that without putting too many noses out of joint.

Mr McCully's new role begs a further question: is his tenure in the post tied to Mr Peters' longevity? It would be realistic to assume debutant MP and former diplomat Tim Groser, who has shot straight to No 17 in caucus rankings, is being groomed in an associate role to take over from Mr McCully down the track.

The real loser is Lockwood Smith. His dumping from foreign affairs suggests time is nearly up on the parliamentary clock for him and the similarly demoted John Carter.

The big winners are Katherine Rich, who returns to National's front bench following her ugly spat with Dr Brash over the direction of welfare policy.

The gender imbalance is further eased by Judith Collins, who took over welfare from Mrs Rich, jumping on to the front bench. However, the pressure will be on her to make life difficult for David Benson-Pope, the new Social Development Minister.

An equally tough challenge faces Tony Ryall, who, as the new health spokesman, finally gets a job to match his under-utilised talents.

Also feeling the heat will be Simon Power, who takes over police from Mr Ryall. Mr Power cannot afford to disappoint in a shadow portfolio which is always a gold-mine of opportunities for opposition parties.

The big plus is National's doubling of its party vote, which will see an expansion in its front bench from seven to a minimum of nine and possibly as many as 11.

National's firepower should be further enhanced through Dr Brash placing the heavyweight portfolios - finance, education, police, welfare, health and economic development - in the hands of front-benchers.

While Dr Brash will adopt a floating role, he has given himself a new responsibility for "relationships with non-Government parties".

That task recognises National's failure to woo other parties as potential coalition partners before elections - something which has been painfully obvious in recent weeks.