Embattled Australian PM loses two more ministers

SYDNEY, March 2 (AFP) - Australia's defence minister and his deputy both announced they were quitting politics on Saturday, bringing to five the number of cabinet members retiring as Prime Minister Scott Morrison heads into a fraught election.

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, the most moderate remaining member of Morrison's conservative coalition government, said he was stepping down at the next election, due by midMay, to begin a business career.

The junior defence minister, Steven Ciobo, announced separately that he would also not contest the May election and would give up his portfolio immediately so Morrison could name a replacement.

Pyne, who was also responsible for managing government business in parliament, batted aside suggestions the string of recent ministerial retirements was motivated by the prospect of their Liberal party losing the upcoming election to the opposition Labor, as widely predicted by polls.

“Being in politics is not a life sentence, and I've been there for 26 years and I didn't want to run again,” Pyne told reporters in announcing his decision. A senior Labor Party official, Penny Wong, said the latest departures illustrated a “stampede for the exits” from the embattled Morrison coalition.

Current polls show the Liberals, who have been in power since 2013, heading for their worst electoral defeat since 1983 and Australia getting a seventh change of prime minister in 10 years.