Chris Steel and Rachel Stephen-Smith fronted the press on Thursday, a day after Meegan Fitzharris' shock announcement that she was quitting politics.

It came as Ms Fitzharris' likely replacement, Deepak-Raj Gupta, confirmed he would join Labor's right faction, shoring up Chief Minister Andrew Barr's power base within government ranks.

Mr Steel and Ms Stephen-Smith were logical choices to take on the health and transport portfolios.

The transport portfolio will fit neatly alongside Mr Steel's role as Roads and City Services Minister, while Ms Stephen-Smith has had close interactions with the health sector in her capacity as Minister for Disabilities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Affairs.

But the first-term parliamentarians will carry far more responsibility, and face far more of the public glare, when they officially start in the senior cabinet posts on Monday.

Ms Stephen-Smith told reporters on Thursday that she was well placed to take on the crucial health portfolio, having worked in social and health policy before being elected to the Assembly in 2016.

The territory's health department has been plagued by deep-seated performance and cultural problems for much of the past two years, making Ms Fitzharris the subject of opposition attacks and intense media and public scrutiny.

Despite the record, Ms Stephen-Smith said her predecessor had left the portfolio in a "great position".

But she acknowledged that the public health system faced some "significant challenges" and was ready for, and expecting, the heightened scrutiny.

"Health is one [portfolio] that Canberrans are interested in and therefore it is the topic of conversation in politics maybe more than other portfolios," she said.

"I am going to try and keep a thick skin and make sure that I don't take issues too personally. Sometimes you just have to step up and say 'politics is a tough game', it's not personal, it's about policy and how we deliver the best service to Canberrans across our health system."

Opposition health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said Ms Stephen-Smith had a "big job ahead of her".

"We have the worst emergency waiting lists, the worst elective surgery waiting lists, failing infrastructure and we have poor culture," she said.

As transport minister, Mr Steel will have to manage the public backlash to Canberra's redrawn bus network, before turning his attention to delivering light rail to Woden.

"As a lifelong southsider, I am committed to bringing light rail across the lake to extend the benefits of jobs, an even better transport network and regeneration to other parts of the city," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Gupta said joining Labor's right faction was in the government's best interest.

Had Mr Gupta remained factionally unaligned, Mr Barr's right faction would have been outnumbered by the party's left wing.

Earlier, Mr Barr told ABC radio that Ms Fitzharris' resignation was a "factor" in his decision to remain in the territory's top job.

"Both of us going wouldn't be particularly useful for the government," he said.