Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam to quit politics in blow to struggling Coalition
Australian Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam has announced he will leave politics by the end of the year, citing a desire to spend more time with family. The decision is another major setback for the Coalition, which is at its lowest popularity in decades.
Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam will quit politics before the end of the year, dealing another significant blow to the struggling Coalition, which is experiencing its lowest levels of popularity in decades.
The Tasmanian senator, who has been in parliament since 2016, said in a statement on Sunday that it was an “extremely difficult decision” but one he had been considering for “quite some time” to spend more time with family.
“I have spent the past 25 years in politics, the last 10 of those as a senator for Tasmania – and I have given everything to these responsibilities, often at the expense of family,” he said. “Twenty-five years is a long time in any vocation and, when you take your role seriously, it always comes first. It is time I reversed my priorities and I can’t do that if I am to stay in politics. I leave federal politics proud and grateful but exhausted.”
Duniam, who serves as the shadow home affairs minister, said he had informed opposition leader Angus Taylor, who asked him to finish the Coalition’s immigration policy work. Duniam said he was happy to do that, focusing on the “Australian values migration plan” and restoring integrity to the migration system.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Sky News on Sunday that Duniam was one of the opposition’s “best and brightest”.
The 43-year-old acknowledged his announcement came at a difficult time for the Coalition, which, on current polling, could lose opposition status at the next federal election if One Nation’s surge continues. A May poll by Redbridge Group/Accent Research published in the Australian Financial Review showed One Nation’s primary vote surpassing Labor and the Coalition for the first time.
Earlier this week, conservative Liberal Tony Pasin from rural South Australia suggested his party and One Nation “work hand-in-glove to defeat Labor” by arranging a deal not to run in the same seats. The suggestion was quickly rejected by Taylor, and Liberal senator James Paterson criticized it as “premature”, saying he was not interested in “dividing the spoils” with another party two years out from an election.
