Christopher Pyne lands a new job

First, according to the Adelaide Advertiser, he found a gig at local law firm Thomson Greer. That outfit operates out of the same office as GC Advisory, a consultancy run by Pyne's former chief-of-staff Adam Howard.

But perhaps it's not much of a coincidence after all.

One day before the May federal election, Howard's company registered the business name Pyne & Partners.

That puts him on track to follow his Cabinet colleague Julie Bishop into the world of consulting, with the former foreign minister teaming up with her long-time chief-of-staff Murray Hansen to start Julie Bishop & Partners.

We're also told Pyne has struck a deal with accounting and consultancy major EY, where he will work one day a week providing advice about an area of expertise - defence.

There is, of course, the small matter of the Ministerial Code of Conduct, which prohibits former ministers from lobbying or meeting with MPs, the public service or the defence force "on any matter on which they have had official dealings as Minister in their last eighteen months in office".

That restriction is in place for 18 months after departure.

Who could forget former small business minister Bruce Billson's run-in with those same guidelines, having drawn a salary from the Franchise Council of Australia before he left Parliament.

Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson decided he had not breached the rules, although he was eventually censured by Parliament last year.

Pyne, of course, won't be the first political heavyweight to head to the Big Four accountancy firms, with former Turnbull government minister Jamie Briggs only last month promoted to run PwC Australia's Adelaide office as the firm's managing director (he joined in 2016).

Former Australian Workers' Union boss Paul Howes has also risen quickly at rival outfit KPMG, last month becoming one of the firm's 12-person national leadership team.