Someone got in early.

“At least three frontbenchers will be dumped as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd uses his electoral mandate to create his own dream team,” an article in the Sunday Telegraph read.

“Senior Labor sources say Arch Bevis, Jan McLucas and Laurie Ferguson are viewed as non-performers and could be dropped or demoted from Rudd’s team.”

That somebody, sources say, could well have been the former Senate leader, John Faulkner, who got a special acknowledgement in Rudd’s victory speech on Saturday night.

Crikey understands that the left heavy, along with Victorian right powerbroker Robert Ray, has been hard at work on transition to government plans. They are also advising Rudd on the make up of the ministry, and are believed to be stressing experience. This appears to rule out some of Labor’s high profile recruits, such as Maxine McKew, Bill Shorten and Greg Combet.

It is also causing concern in the Senate, with speculation that Faulkner could return to a leadership position at the expense of deputy Stephen Conroy. Ray and Conroy have had a major falling out, leading to Ray’s speech last year on “factional daleks”.

Performance, rather than factional favouritism, also seems set to be a key qualification for members of the Rudd ministry. This seems set to do in multicultural affairs spokesman Laurie Ferguson, from the left.

Homeland security spokesman Arch Bevis seems doomed, there is speculation that Rudd’s Queensland enemy Joe Ludwig will be removed from the attorney’s position in favour of former NSW state minister Bob Debus.