Shock resignations have dominated the 45th Parliament. Here’s who’s leaving

By Matt Doran, Georgina Piper and Andrew Kesper

Posted

April 01, 2019 15:53:57

Shock resignations have dominated the headlines, and when the federal election arrives, voters will farewell some longstanding familiar faces who take with them decades of experience.

This is the make-up of the 45th Parliament. Here’s what we know about who won’t be back for the 46th.

Christopher Pyne

• Party: LIB
• Electorate: Sturt
• Elected: 1993
• Margin: 5.4%

Christopher Pyne entered Parliament at the youthful age of 25 in 1993. He’s served in a range of high-profile roles, most recently as Defence Minister and Leader of the House — the Government’s chief tactician in the Lower House. As defence industry minister, he was a campaigner for the future submarine program being built in his home state of South Australia. Mr Pyne is widely seen as one of the more entertaining characters in Federal Parliament, with regular appearances on commercial television and radio. He spoke of his disappointment at the demise of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, saying he was his “Aslan”, in a reference to CS Lewis’s Narnia.

Wayne Swan

• Party: ALP
• Electorate: Lilley
• Elected: 1993
• Margin: ALP 5.7%

The former treasurer was controlling the nation’s purse strings during the global financial crisis before serving as deputy prime minister during Julia Gillard’s leadership. Despite retiring, he will still be involved in politics as the ALP’s national president. Mr Swan increased Labor’s margin from 1.3 to 5.3 per cent at the last election. That margin has grown slightly following a redistribution. Mr Swan got his wish for a woman to replace him as the ALP’s candidate in Lilley, with Brisbane lawyer Anika Wells set to contest the seat.

Jacinta Collins

• Party: ALP
• Senator for VIC
• Appointed 1995, 2008

Senator Collins was the manager of Opposition business in the Senate when she announced she would not contest the 2019 election. She then resigned a few months early, and has been appointed executive director of the National Catholic Education Commission. She was the minister for mental health and ageing during Kevin Rudd’s brief return to the prime ministership in 2013. Union official and former adviser to Ms Collins, Raff Ciccone, was picked by the Labor Party to replace her, which the Victorian Government endorsed in March.

Jenny Macklin

• Party: ALP
• Electorate: Jagajaga
• Elected: 1996
• Margin: ALP 5.0%

The long-serving Labor frontbencher joined the ranks of departing members in July, announcing she wanted to spend more time with family. She’s the longest-serving woman in the history of the House of Representatives and was one of the architects of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Labor’s margin in her north-eastern Melbourne suburban seat grew slightly in a recent redistribution. The electorate has only ever been held by the ALP since its creation in 1984.

Julie Bishop

• Party: LIB
• Electorate: Curtin
• Elected: 1998
• Margin: 20.7%

The high-profile former frontbencher had kept her colleagues on their toes, announcing her intention to retire at the 2019 election in the last week of Parliament before the budget. She left the chamber before hearing the tributes from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, which many have considered indicative of the scars she carries from her failed attempt at the party leadership in August 2018. Australia’s first female foreign minister was widely lauded as a strong advocate for Australia on the global stage. Despite not being able to convince her colleagues she was best placed to lead the party, she was often courted by members during election campaigns because of her popularity amongst the broader public.

Michael Danby

• Party: ALP
• Electorate: Melbourne Ports
• Elected: 1998
• Margin: ALP 1.3%

The veteran backbencher announced in July 2018 that he would not contest his inner Melbourne seat, to be renamed Macnamara, at the next election. The ALP holds the seat on a very narrow margin, and the Greens are talking up its chances of claiming it as it continues to target inner-city suburban seats. The outspoken Labor MP has been a strong supporter of the Jewish community, and a critic of foreign interference in Australia.

Luke Hartsuyker

• Party: NAT
• Electorate: Cowper
• Elected: 2001
• Margin: NAT 12.6%

Mr Hartsuyker was one of the more recent politicians to announce their retirement after a career in federal parliament stretching back to 2001. He has served in various assistant ministerial roles in the Coalition. Mr Hartsuyker’s New South Wales north coast seat was a Nationals stronghold before the last election. But he was forced to battle former independent MP Rob Oakeshott, who took a lot of ground from the Nationals. Mr Oakeshott is contesting the seat again.

Claire Moore

• Party: ALP
• Senator for QLD
• Elected: 2001

The Queenslander has been in the Senate since 2001, most recently serving as the party’s spokeswoman on international development and the Pacific. Upon announcing she would retire at the next election, it triggered the usual jostling to fill her spot, with some suggesting the candidate picked would move to regional Queensland to bolster Labor’s credentials outside the south-east corner of the state.

Nigel Scullion

• Party: CLP
• Senator for NT
• Elected: 2001

The Northern Territorian has served as Indigenous Affairs Minister under prime ministers Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. Senator Scullion said he wanted to spend more time fishing in the Top End after leaving politics. Despite being a member of the Country Liberal Party, Senator Scullion sits in the Nationals party room. He was briefly the “parliamentary leader” of the Nationals when the party’s then leadership team of Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash were embroiled in the citizenship scandal.

Kate Ellis

• Party: ALP
• Electorate: Adelaide
• Elected: 2004
• Margin: ALP 9.0%

The former Labor frontbencher was long considered one of the ALP’s rising stars but announced she would step down at the election to spend more time with her young family. Along with a redistribution of South Australia’s Lower House seats, which resulted in the state losing an electorate, there was a battle within Labor as to who would replace Ms Ellis. The redistribution increased the ALP’s margin in the electorate of Adelaide, which will now be contested by Steve Georganas, who will move across from neighbouring seat Hindmarsh.

Michael Keenan

• Party: LIB
• Electorate: Stirling
• Elected: 2004
• Margin: 6.1%

The Human Services Minister was unmarried and had no children when he entered federal politics. When he announced his resignation, that had all changed. The married father of four said he was leaving politics to spend more time with his family. He was previously the justice minister under former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Despite four women contesting Liberal preselection for Stirling, former Army officer Vincent Connelly was picked. The Liberals are concerned about the seat, suggesting it could be under threat from Labor despite it sitting on a margin of more than 6 per cent.

Doug Cameron

• Party: ALP
• Senator for NSW
• Elected: 2008

The colourful politician has been a fixture of the Upper House since 2007 and is well known for his forensic questioning at Senate estimates. Rumours had circulated in late September that he could be drafted as Labor’s candidate for the seat of Lindsay, but the 67-year-old firmly rejected that speculation.

John Williams

• Party: NAT
• Senator for NSW
• Elected: 2008

In March last year, John “Wacka” Williams revealed he had Parkinson’s disease, but would see out his term. The sheep-shearing Senator Williams was first elected in 2007, and long campaigned for an inquiry into the banking sector. The jostling for his spot on the Senate ticket is interesting. The Liberals and Nationals run a joint ticket in New South Wales, effectively meaning they alternate spots on the ballot. But a fight has broken out between the Coalition partners. After the last election, former deputy Nationals leader Fiona Nash was kicked out of Parliament in the dual citizenship fiasco. She was replaced by a Liberal, Jim Molan. The Nationals want Senator Williams’s spot to be taken by one of their own, to return the balance. But the Liberals want Andrew Bragg, who had contemplated running in Wentworth but stood aside to take a spot on the Senate ticket.

Kelly O’Dwyer

• Party: LIB
• Electorate: Higgins
• Elected: 2009
• Margin: 7.4%

Leading up to the election, Kelly O’Dwyer was the Minister for Jobs and Women. Elected in a by-election forced by the resignation of former treasurer Peter Costello in 2009, she cited a desire to spend more time with her family as a key factor in her decision to leave federal politics and said she hoped to have another child. Ms O’Dwyer has also revealed she had a miscarriage while in Parliament House. She’s been one of the more vocal supporters for boosting the number of women in the Liberal Party. As she announced her resignation, Ms O’Dwyer said she wanted a woman to replace her as the candidate for Higgins, with former state Liberal candidate Katie Allen picked for the seat. She’ll face a battle from the Greens to hold the seat for the Liberals.

Gai Brodtmann

• Party: ALP
• Electorate: Canberra
• Elected: 2010
• Margin: ALP 13.2%

There had been discussion about which seat Ms Brodtmann would contest at the next election, after the ACT’s Lower House representation jumped from two electorates to three. But late in the preselection process, she announced she would retire from politics. The ALP is likely to hold on to her very safe electorate, thanks to historically strong support in the ACT.

Jane Prentice

• Party: LNP
• Electorate: Ryan
• Elected: 2010
• Margin: LNP 8.8%

Ms Prentice was ousted by the Queensland LNP during preselection, despite signalling her intention to recontest her Brisbane electorate of Ryan. Much of the controversy around that decision came from the fact she was replaced as the party’s candidate by a younger man, Brisbane City councillor Julian Simmonds, despite being then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s preferred candidate. She is one of only three women representing the LNP in Queensland. Ms Prentice’s electorate is considered safe, even after a recent redistribution shaved off some of the party’s support.

Craig Laundy

• Party: LNP
• Electorate: Reid
• Elected: 2013
• Margin: LNP 4.7%

Speculation Mr Laundy could quit federal politics had been rife since the Liberal leadership turmoil claimed the scalp of his ally Malcolm Turnbull. Mr Laundy declined an offer to serve in Scott Morrison’s ministry as a result. His electorate in Sydney’s western suburbs is marginal and a seat that Labor targets at every election, given the ALP, and breakaway Labor figure Jack Lang, held the seat from 1922 to 2013.

David Leyonhjelm

• Party: LDP
• Senator for NSW
• Elected: 2013

Libertarian David Leyonhjelm won his seat in the Senate in 2013 almost by accident, with his party polling a surprisingly strong vote thanks in part to its position on the ballot and voter confusion between his party and the Liberals. He faced a tough re-election in 2016 but benefitted from the double dissolution and the lower quota required to win a seat. Mr Leyonhjelm’s time in the Senate was marked with his advocacy for gun rights, tax cuts and men’s rights. He attracted his fair share of controversy during his time in the Federal Parliament, including the accusation he “slut-shamed” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is now suing him for defamation. He retired to run in the NSW state election.

Cathy McGowan

• Party: IND
• Electorate: Indi
• Elected: 2013
• Margin: 5.5%

Cathy McGowan entered politics having defeated Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella as the Coalition swept to power in 2013. Ms McGowan benefitted from voter dissatisfaction with the major parties prompting her north-east Victorian community to form the Voices for Indi group, for which she became the figurehead. During her time in federal politics, she’s made regional Australia her top priority. As the crossbench gained even more power with the Coalition slipping into minority government, Ms McGowan was viewed as one of the group’s key leaders. She announced her retirement in January, with Wangaratta midwife Dr Helen Haines emerging as her successor as the leader of Voices for Indi and the group’s next independent candidate.

Ann Sudmalis

• Party: LIB
• Electorate: Gilmore
• Elected: 2013
• Margin: LNP 0.7%

Ms Sudmalis joined Julia Banks in announcing she would not contest the next election, pulling out of a bitter preselection feud in her ultra-marginal New South Wales electorate, citing a campaign of bullying and misinformation designed to undermine her chances of winning the candidacy. In another blow for women in the Liberals, Ms Sudmalis was ultimately replaced by former ALP president Warren Mundine as the Liberal candidate at the behest of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Ms Sudmalis only just clung on to her electorate at the last election, after a small swing to the Labor Party. The Nationals will run former state MP Katrina Hodgkinson as its candidate.

Barry O’Sullivan

• Party: NAT
• Senator for QLD
• Elected: 2014

Senator O’Sullivan and colleague Ian Macdonald were dumped from the top spots on the Queensland LNP Senate ticket during preselection in July. Senator O’Sullivan has been replaced as the party’s number two candidate by Brisbane-based businesswoman Susan McDonald, who holds strong ties to regional Queensland and is expected to shift to Townsville. Senator Macdonald will contest the election but is fourth on the ticket — a spot many regard as unwinnable for the LNP.

Emma Husar

• Party: ALP
• Electorate: Lindsay
• Elected: 2016
• Margin: ALP 1.1%

Ms Husar was under intense pressure after it was revealed the New South Wales branch of the ALP was investigating bullying and misconduct claims levelled against her by former staff. While strenuously denying the allegations, and labelling them as malicious, she announced she would not contest the next election. Her seat in Sydney’s far west is very marginal, and generally seen as one of the key battlegrounds at any federal election. There has been speculation she’s hoping to be re-endorsed as Labor’s candidate for Lindsay, but she has denied those suggestions so far.

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