Steven Ciobo, Christopher Pyne set to announce retirement from politics at election

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne will formally announce his decision to quit tomorrow, as Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo confirms he won’t contest next election.

Steven Ciobo, left, and Christopher Pyne will not contest their seats at the next election.

Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo has confirmed to The Australian that he will not contest the next election and will retire from politics.

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne will not recontest his South Australian seat of Sturt at the next election and is set to formally announce his decision tomorrow.

Mr Ciobo has also stepped down from the ministry and will be replaced tomorrow by WA senator Linda Reynolds.

“After 17 years in parliament, I have taken the decision that it’s time to move on to something else,” Mr Ciobo told The Australian.

“I’ve always said that politics is a means not an end,” Mr Ciobo told The Australian in an exclusive interview which has ended weeks of speculation.

“I have had the extraordinary privilege of serving my country as trade minister and the contribution I got to make, in particular with the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Indonesian Free Trade agreement.

“But now is the time to do something else.

Mr Pyne — who was first elected into parliament over 25 years ago — will continue to serve as Defence Minister until the next election when he will leave the parliament.

Some of Mr Pyne’s colleagues were today aware of his decision and were preparing for his departure.

Mr Pyne entered the parliament in 1993 and has served as the Liberal Party’s chief tactician over the last decade. He became Leader of the House when Tony Abbott won government in 2013 and also served in senior portfolios including Education, Industry, Defence Industry and Defence.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has acknowledged Mr Pyne’s decision to leave Australian politics, taking to twitter to say he was looking forward to the “next chapter of Mr Pyne’s Adventures”.

“Witty, wicked and as energetic as he is effective @cpyne has been a dear friend and colleague for many years. Together we secured the future of our Australian defence industry - national & economic security. Thank you! We look forward to the next chapter of Mr Pyne’s Adventures”.

Witty, wicked and as energetic as he is effective @cpyne has been a dear friend and colleague for many years. Together we secured the future of our Australian defence industry - national & economic security. Thank you! We look forward to the next chapter of Mr Pyne’s Adventures.

— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) March 1, 2019

Earlier, Scott Morrison declined to rule out losing two more cabinet ministers at the next election, with Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo also speculated to be quitting politics tomorrow.

Speculation is mounting that Mr Ciobo will announce his retirement imminently.

The Prime Minister, in Townsville today, repeatedly skirted around questions about the two possible retiring ministers.

“I speak to them all the time ... there’s a lot of speculation going on isn’t there?” he said. “You’re speculating, you wouldn’t expect me to respond to speculation.”

When asked if two cabinet resignations so close to an election were damaging, the Prime Minister said: “No.”

When asked if impending resignations were because ministers believe he cannot win the next election, the Prime Minister said “No.”

If they do retire, they would follow Jobs Minister Kelly O’Dwyer and Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion. Both announced they would leave politics earlier this year but remain in cabinet. Outside of cabinet, Human Services Minister Michael Keenan and former foreign minister Julie Bishop have also decided to quit parliament in May.

The Australian has contacted both the Defence Minister and Defence Industry Minister’s office.

The Defence Minister had refused to rule out his retirement on his Sky News show, Pyne and Marles, when pressed on the issue by his co-host, opposition defence spokesman Richard Marles.

“Once I decide to announce my retirement, you’ll be the first to know,” Mr Pyne told his co-host. “Do you think if I announce a retirement on Sky, Pyne and Marles will go from 12 viewers to 25 viewers? That’d be a big jump.”

Mr Marles said: “Yours has been a mighty career and I, for one, would be sad to see you go.”

When approached by The Australian this morning, Mr Pyne said the speculation surrounding his future was based on “innuendo, gossip and rumour”. Asked if it remained his intention to stand at the upcoming election, Mr Pyne said: “I’m not doing a press conference here with you now.”

Mr Pyne this afternoon again refused to confirm he would stand at the upcoming election.

“You’ll all find out in the fullness of time, at the appropriate time,” he said.

“At the moment I keep saying, as I’ve said all along, it is my intention to recontest and I don’t intend to add to speculation.

“As I’ve said before, I don’t believe in unnecessary by-elections.”

Mr Pyne told The Australian in late January “of course I’m running again”. The Minister’s office is also refusing to deny talk he is quitting politics.

The Defence Minister, a senior moderate Liberal MP who was close to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, has repeatedly refused to answer if he’ll contest the election in recent days.

The leader of the House was first elected in 1993 and holds his South Australian seat of Sturt on 5.4 per cent.

Bill Shorten seized on the speculation today, declaring it showed the government had “given up”.

“The Morrison government is divided, it’s unstable and now we see people just simply giving up on the government. I say to Australians, if the ministers in the government are giving up on the government then you should too. Labor by contrast is united and stable,” the Opposition Leader said.

Liberal MP Tony Pasin — a South Australian like Mr Pyne — said he could not speculate, but said the Defence Minister had been a “terrific member” and any resignations would be for family reasons.

“Many of the people who have come to their decision have come to it for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with our political fortunes one way or another,” he told Sky News.

“Politicians are human people. We have the human condition, we have our families.

“Christopher has been a terrific member ... My grandfather used to tell me they even replace the Pope from time to time.”

Additional reporting: Richard ferguson, Rosie Lewis, Luke Griffiths

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Steven Ciobo, Minister for Defence Industry. Picture: Jerad Williams