Mr Rudd, who announced the resignation at a hastily organised press conference, said Mr Fitzgibbon had paid the price for 'mistakes related to accountability'. 'I've made clear to my ministers over a long period of time the government expects high standards of accountability on the part of its ministers,' Mr Rudd said.

'All my ministers are familiar with that and it's on that basis the minister has extended his resignation.' Mr Rudd, who came to power in late 2007, had been a staunch backer of Mr Fitzgibbon despite a number of damaging revelations including his links to a Chinese-Australian businesswoman accused of spying for Beijing.

He said the defence minister had quit after it emerged that he called an army general in charge of defence health services to a meeting with his brother, who runs an insurance company.

'The minister's decision was to extend his letter of resignation at his own initiative,' Mr Rudd said. 'I accepted that resignation; it was the right thing to do.' Mr Fitzgibbon had also been under pressure after admitting he failed to disclose a night's hotel accommodation paid for by his brother's firm, NIB.

'The minister has accepted responsibility for his mistakes. They are mistakes related to accountability, there have been a number of them,' Mr Rudd said.

'Obviously we're sad about this but it's important that we maintain high standards of ministerial accountability,' he added.

Mr Fitzgibbon, 47, has been under pressure since March when he admitted not declaring two trips to China paid for by wealthy businesswoman Helen Liu.

He initially denied receiving anything other than 'small gifts' from the China-born Liu, a family friend, after details of his links to her were leaked to the media.

Ms Liu later denied espionage claims and the national spy agency has said it has no security concerns about her.

The opposition called for Fitzgibbon's resignation again this week when he admitted failing to disclose the hotel stay. -- AFP

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