British Defence Secretary [name not provided in the supplied excerpts] resigns in the hours before an AUKUS-related media event involving Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles. The West Australian and PerthNow both report the resignation as a sudden development occurring roughly three hours ahead of the scheduled event. Both accounts frame the move as unexpected and timed closely to the Australian minister’s planned appearance tied to the AUKUS partnership, which is a multilateral defence arrangement. The excerpts provided do not include details on the reasons for the resignation, who will replace the defence secretary, or whether the resignation affects the timing or content of the AUKUS media event. No further information is included in the supplied summaries about any official statements from the UK government, changes to AUKUS discussions, or comments from Marles. Overall, the sources agree on the core facts: the British defence secretary resigns, the resignation happens shortly before the AUKUS media event, and Richard Marles is the Australian defence figure scheduled to attend.