As minister, Joel Fitzgibbon took on Defence in a forthright manner, overseeing the preparation of the white paper and not hiding the frustration he experienced with some elements of the bureaucracy. Any achievements he made in the portfolio were overshadowed, however, when his errors in declaring gifts came to light.

First it was revealed that Fitzgibbon had failed to declare trips to China in 2002 and 2005 that had been paid for by his friend Helen Liu, a Chinese businesswoman. Then, this week, came an admission of another failure to declare a benefit, this time regarding a hotel room paid for by the health fund NIB, which is run by his brother, Mark. Then came the revelation that despite Fitzgibbon's earlier assurances, a meeting involving his brother and some of Fitzgibbon's own staff had been held in his ministerial office. The events that led to the disclosure of Fitzgibbon's errors with declarations make it clear that some elements within Defence apparently did not like his approach. This newspaper reported in late March that Defence officials had been engaged in an unauthorised covert investigation of Fitzgibbon's friendship with Liu. It was alleged a Defence Signals Directorate officer had obtained personal information from the minister's office IT systems.

ASIO was quick to point out that it had no security concerns about Liu. Defence and the Australian Federal Police investigated the very serious allegation that the minister's own department had spied on him but no trace of electronic snooping was found. Australia's intelligence and security watchdog endorsed the findings of the internal Defence Department inquiry that no ''rogue elements'' in the department had conducted a covert probe.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times