Liberal senator Marise Payne has announced she will quit the Senate, calling time on her 26-year career in federal politics.
Senator Payne served as foreign minister and minister for women under former prime minister Scott Morrison, overseeing the government’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as to several scandals that confronted the Liberal Party in its last term of government.
She was one of the party’s most senior women, being first appointed to the Senate in 1997 and holding several positions in cabinet.
In a statement, Senator Payne said she was very proud of serving in parliament as long as she had, particularly “to have become Australia’s longest serving female senator in history.”
She thanked numerous colleagues, and highlighted her friendship with the Liberal Senate leader, and fellow moderate, Simon Birmingham.
In his own statement, Senator Birmingham said the outgoing senator had “shown a grit and determination to push through barriers” since her election as the federal Young Liberals president in 1989, the first woman to hold the position.
“Marise has held true to her values and beliefs … and been a passionate Liberal, both philosophically and politically.”
Her resignation follows the defeat at the NSW state election of her partner Stuart Ayres, who was a minister in the Perrottet government.
Senator Payne said she was grateful for her partner’s support for her “to be a much-travelled cabinet minister for seven years.”
Senator Payne first entered the ministry as human services minister in 2013 when the Abbott government took power, and entered cabinet when she took on defence in 2015, becoming the first woman in the portfolio since federation.
In defence, Senator Payne oversaw the multibillion-dollar deal for French firm Naval Group to build a new fleet of submarines for the Australian navy, which was controversially scrapped in order for Australia to pursue a nuclear-powered fleet of submarines under the AUKUS pact.
When former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was rolled in a leadership spill and replaced by Scott Morrison, Senator Payne was made foreign minister, and additionally given the women’s ministry after the 2019 election.
As foreign minister Marise Payne called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing global attention and angering the Chinese government.
She was also the responsible minister for imposing sanctions on Russian oligarchs and others linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
During the last term of the Coalition government, Senator Payne as women’s minister was confronted by a number of incidents that shook the government, and led to the Jenkins review into the culture of parliament and the overhaul that followed.
A national women’s summit convened by the minister that attempted to address society-wide issues for women’s safety was broadly seen to have failed to achieve its hoped-for ambitions.
Since the Coalition’s federal election loss Senator Payne has kept a low profile, most recently appearing before the Robodebt royal commission to give evidence.
In her maiden speech, Senator Payne highlighted that she was then the youngest woman in the Coalition, and that it had not always been an easy road for women to enter politics.
Senator Payne quoted Aung San Suu Kyi, saying it was “not the prerogative of men alone to bring light into this world”.
She also used the speech to advocate for an Australia free of discrimination against people based on gender, race, sexuality, religion, HIV status or education, which she called the “essence of liberalism”.
The senator, who was a proud advocate for western Sydney, focused much of the NSW Liberal branch’s attentions there while serving as the de facto leader of the moderates in that state.
Senator Payne has spent a life in politics, and before entering parliament had previously served as the federal president of the Young Liberals and as vice-chair of the Australian Republic Movement alongside Malcolm Turnbull.
(ABC)
