Fitzgibbon resigns

As you will probably be aware by now, the Defence Minister has resigned. At first blush, this does look like a pretty serious lapse in judgment from Fitzgibbon. He claims in his resignation letter (h/t Crikey) that he acted to minimise the appearance of wrongdoing, but allowing a meeting between ministerial staff, his brother's company and Defence officials to occur in his parliamentary office does seem rather careless.

And so Fitzgibbon joins the list of Defence Ministers-past, having barely reached half his life expectancy. It is rumoured that Greg Combet will be announced as the new Minister, given he spent some time as the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and apparently made a good impression. Good luck to Combet if he gets the job; you can't help thinking that the portfolio is a graveyard for political ambition.