Mathias Cormann to quit politics after ‘a cracker journey’

Finance Minister announces resignation, will leave the parliament by the end of the year.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says he will walk away from political life at the end of the year with no regrets and having enjoyed “a cracker journey”.

Standing with his wife Hayley and daughters Isabelle, 7, and Charlotte, 4, against the backdrop of the Swan River in the Perth suburb of Applecross, he said being a senator for 13 years and Finance Minister for the past seven years had been a privilege.

“(Leaving) is not something I just decided yesterday. It’s very important to me that the transition is managed properly,” he said. “I’ve given this job everything — I’ve left nothing on the field. My family has given this everything. It’s been a cracker journey and it is time to move on to a new challenge.”

His wife, lawyer Hayley Cormann, said: “We’re delighted to be here having this conversation because it’s an exciting new phase for our family.

“We’ve been 100 per cent ­behind him the whole way, and Mathias has a really special bond with his daughters. It’ll be so wonderful to have him home at the end of the year.”

Senator Cormann, 49, said he had told Scott Morrison he would not contest the next election and intended to resign from parliament by the end of this year.

The Prime Minister has no intention of shuffling his cabinet until the end of the year in the interest of “stability”, with Senator Cormann staying on for the delayed October budget.

Mr Morrison has twice prevailed on the Finance Minister to remain in the parliament since he first indicated he wished to resign after the 2019 election.

It was agreed last year, as Senator Cormann was planning to ­retire when the December mid-year economic forecast was due, that he would stay until the next budget, which was then due in May. COVID-19 intervened and it was pushed back to October.

Senator Cormann said the end of the year was halfway through the government’s current term. “My view was if I continued on beyond the end of this year then I was honour-bound to go to the next election,” he said. “This is the most appropriate time to manage an orderly transition.”

He said a lot of work remained in the next six months to transition Australia out of the crisis,

Senator Cormann with daughter Isabelle, 7. Picture: Tony McDonough

including a July economic state­ment, the October budget and the half-yearly budget update in ­December. “That will have my 100 per cent focus over the next six months,” he said.

Asked if he might change his mind, he said his decision was “final” and he ruled out any return to state or federal politics.

He said he would continue to help plan the trajectory for a five-year plan for the nation’s post-COVID economic recovery before his departure.

“It’s a moment of personal satisfaction and pride that Australia went into this coronavirus crisis in a position of comparative economic strength,” he said.

“After that I look forward to getting back home to explore ­future opportunities.”

Senator Cormann was elected in 2007 and is the nation’s longest-serving finance minister. “I’m the only serving minister in the cabinet who is still in the same portfolio as when we got into government in 2013,” he said.

“There is no one in the history of Australia who has done this job longer than me, and doing this job from Western Australia and spending a lot of time in Canberra and on planes, there’s a physical limit to how long you can do it.”

He denied his decision was related to the bruising nature of political life during the overthrow of the Turnbull leadership, in which he was heavily criticised in some quarters for switching his loyalties to Peter Dutton and then to Mr Morrison.

“I stand by my decisions … you assess the facts, you consult with colleagues, you work as part of a team and you make decisions.”

He said career highlights included stopping Labor’s mining tax and helping bring the federal budget back into balance. “Being able with Scott Morrison to fix the GST for Western Australia was a proud moment, and bringing record levels of infrastructure funding for the state,” he said.

The Belgian-born Senator said he never dreamt that he would have such a high-profile political career when he decided to ­migrate to Australia permanently after first visiting Perth in 1994.