Defence white paper: bin it and start again »

There have been 22 defence ministers in the past 50 years and only two of them went on to hold another ministerial office. The defence portfolio is a tough assignment and Marise Payne takes it on at an especially difficult time. Marise Payne is as well qualified for the job of defence minister as any who have taken it on for a very long time, and far better qualified than either of her most recent predecessors. Her appointment has sent the clearest possible signal that Malcolm Turnbull intends his government to fix the mess in defence created by previous governments over many years, by doing things differently. That is not because of her gender, but because she is an unusually intelligent, articulate, practical no-nonsense person with a real interest in good policy, a healthy scepticism about received wisdom, and a degree of intellectual and political courage and toughness. These are all important qualities in a defence minister, and they have been sadly missed of late. But Payne will need all these qualities, and more, if she is to make a go of it, because defence is a tough job.