Then assistant minister of defence, Mr Robert oversaw a mining deal between Nimrod Resources - run by his close friend and major Liberal Party donor Paul Marks - and the Chinese government-owned company Minmetals. Coalition MP Stuart Robert's links to the company have come under scrutiny. Credit:Andrew Meares Despite saying he was in China in a "personal capacity", Mr Robert also took Nimrod executives into a meeting with a Chinese government minister. Labor called on Mr Turnbull to sack Mr Robert for breaching the ministerial code of conduct by using his position to help a private business. But the Prime Minister ordered his top public servant - Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet boss Martin Parkinson - to conduct a review.

Mr Robert advised Dr Parkinson that at the time he travelled to Beijing he did not believe he had any interest in or connection to Nimrod. Stuart Robert, Minister for Human Services and Veterans Affairs, walks past colleague Mal Brough on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But in the course of the investigation, Mr Robert told Dr Parkinson he had become aware that shares in Metallum Holdings, a company in which Mr Marks was also a shareholder, had been allocated to his trustee before the visit. Mr Robert recognised that this connection would create the impression that at the time he went to Beijing he had something personally to gain from the Nimrod Resources project, Mr Turnbull said in a statement. Stuart Robert Credit:Andrew Meares

"As a result, Mr Robert has asked me not to consider him in the pending reshuffle of the ministry. I thank him for his service as a minister and for his candid co-operation with Dr Parkinson in his inquiry," Mr Turnbull said. In his report Dr Parkinson concluded Mr Robert had acted inconsistently with the Statement of Ministerial Standards, if unwittingly. He also notes Mr Robert appears not to have received any financial benefit from the deal. Minister for Veterans' Affairs Stuart Robert on Wednesday Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Earlier, new Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was the first to publicly confirm Mr Robert was gone, saying it was "goodnight Irene" for his colleague. The decision paves the way for Mr Turnbull to reshuffle his frontbench, which is expected within days.

A number of gaps have opened up in the Turnbull cabinet in the few months since his September reshuffle. Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Warren Truss announced on Thursday he would immediately retire from the frontbench, while in December Jamie Briggs resigned as Cities and the Built Environment Minister following a late-night bar scandal in Hong Kong and Mal Brough stood aside as Special Minister of State, Defence Materiel and Science Minister pending AFP investigations into his part in the Slipper-Ashby affair. Follow us on Twitter