And they're off!

The gee-gees are rushing past the post over at Government House, and here they are so far ...

• Frank Sartor is handing over Utilities to Carl Scully, who will also retain the Police portfolio, so he can concentrate on Planning (which has been separated out into its own portfolio from infrastructure, smart move). Holy shit. This is bleak indeed. Say good bye to every corner in Sydney you hold dear - it'll be gone by this time next year. To Sartor, heritage is a dirty word, and `old' is a building 100 years or older. Plus, this will give Spanky Franky an even greater mandate to make over Redfern in his own image. Oy, vey ...


• John Watkins is tipped to take over as Deputy Premier, despite a concerted push on Carmel Tebbutt's part, Iemma having decided to leave it up to the Left rather than the entire caucus. The decision will be made tomorrow.


• deep shudder Michael Costa takes the newly created Finance portfolio after Iemma himself took on Treasury. I swear this is just because nobody could bear to say `Yes, Michael Costa - it's all yours to play with like a big game of Monopoly - every cent earned in NSW ever'. Iemma's comments on the ABC today indicate that he intends on a relatively temporary `treasury sharing' arrangement similar to that worked out between Steve Bracks and John Brumby in Victoria (in which Bracks held treasury for 5 months before handing on to his `apprentice', Brumby). Worst case scenario: Iemma gets sick of it all and just hands it over. Best case scenario: Iemma gets sick of it all and strangles Costa.

And, if you happen to be living under a rock, Craig Knowles was scratched before the race. Pollie watchers are hotly anticipating the cool change predicted for the rest of the week, if only to stem the flow from the NSW government of all these sun-loving ministers ...