The Opposition has criticised the federal government's timing in announcing the departure of two Coalition MPs from the frontbench in one day.
Labor says the Government is hoping to bring on an early federal election and is trying to bury bad news by making it public during the holiday period.
Helen Isbister has more.
Special Minister of State Mal Brough has stood aside until police complete investigations into allegations against him in the case of former parliamentary speaker Peter Slipper.
Mr Brough has been linked to the alleged copying of Mr Slipper's diary.
The Minister's decision was made public shortly after Minister for Cities and the Built Environment Jamie Briggs announced his resignation, marking a difficult day for the Government.
Mr Briggs' decision comes amid allegations he behaved inappropriately towards a female public servant at a bar in Hong Kong during an official trip last month.
Until now, he was perhaps best known as the politician who hurt himself while attempting a football move at former prime minister Tony Abbott's farewell party.
In a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and later at a media conference, Mr Briggs partially explained what had occurred in Hong Kong.
"At the conclusion of the official program for the day, my chief of staff and I went for dinner, and we invited several other officials, of which one was a female public servant, and she agreed to attend. At the conclusion of the dinner, which I paid for personally, we went to a popular and, as it transpired, very crowded bar for drinks, during which we interacted between the three of us and with others in what I believed at the time was an informal manner."
Jamie Briggs says the female public servant raised concerns about his conduct after the apparent incident took place.
But he refused to reveal the details of the accusations against him.
"I've apologised directly to her, but, after careful reflection about the concerns she raised and the fact that I was at a bar late at night while on an overseas visit, I've concluded that this behaviour has not met the particularly high standards for ministers. Therefore, the proper course of action for me is to resign. This was an error of professional judgment."
The Prime Minister says in a statement he has accepted Mr Briggs' offer to resign, made after he was invited to reflect on his position.
Mr Turnbull used the same written statement to announce Mal Brough's departure.
Mr Brough is under investigation by the Australian Federal Police over his suspected role in the leaking of Peter Slipper's diary.
Mr Turnbull says, in offering to stand aside, the Minister has done the right thing.
But the Opposition suggests it is what it calls "too little, too late".
Acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek says Mr Brough should have been relieved of his parliamentary duties much sooner.
"The fact that Mr Turnbull appointed Mal Brough when there were so many clouds hanging over his behaviour is an indictment on Mr Turnbull's judgment. There were red lights flashing around this guy when Malcolm Turnbull appointed him to become a minister."
Ms Plibersek has criticised the timing of the Government's announcements, saying the Prime Minister is trying to hide bad news by releasing it during the quiet holiday period.
"Well, we know from the Government's behaviour in this effort to take out the trash, we know that the Government is planning an early election, that they are trying to clean off the barnacles, as Tony Abbott would say, before going to an early election in coming months."
Ministers have been assigned to cover the vacant portfolios in the interim, but the two departures mean a Cabinet reshuffle is expected early in 2016.
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