Robert Hill this morning announced his retirement as Defence Minister and from politics. Surprise. Not.

An entirely respectable editor contacted me yesterday: had I ever said anything particularly quotable about Robert Hill? The answer was no. Indeed, looking through six years of Crikey, I’ve said very little at all on the Liberal Senate Leader, who official announced his resignation this morning.

So, what does one put in his political eulogy? There seems to be little option.

We can start with something Hilly would like – an Alfred Deakin quote: “As Mr Gilbert amusingly put it…” – but we’ve then got to continue with a paraphrase that won’t be particularly pleasing. Robert Hill did nothing in particular – and did it well enough to stay out of trouble. Sorry.

Here’s hoping there were some great deeds around the Cabinet table. We look forward to reading the first instalment in 2026.