Former foreign minister Marise Payne to quit politics on September 30

Senator and former foreign minister Marise Payne has announced her retirement from politics after more than 26 years in federal parliament.

Payne said she would exit politics on September 30, setting in motion a preselection race, with prominent Voice No campaigner Nyunggai Warren Mundine and former NSW Liberal minister Andrew Constance considered the early frontrunners to replace her.

Marise Payne, then minister for foreign affairs, reacting to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022.Credit: Steven Siewert

“It is an extraordinary honour to be elected to represent one’s community in the federal parliament,” Payne wrote on Facebook on Friday.

“To have had the privilege to have served as long as I have, and in the process to have become Australia’s longest-serving female senator in history, is something of which I am very proud.”

This masthead foreshadowed the resignation of Payne, a widely respected parliamentarian viewed as an ideologically consistent moderate Liberal, on Thursday night.

A Liberal senator for NSW since 1997, Payne served as human services minister in the Abbott government from 2013, before being elevated to cabinet under Malcolm Turnbull in 2015. She was the first woman to be given carriage of the defence portfolio and after the 2018 leadership spill became Scott Morrison’s foreign minister following Julie Bishop’s resignation from cabinet.

Payne and Morrison came under fire ahead of last year’s election when Solomon Islands signed a security pact with Beijing, which Labor described as the “worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific” in almost 80 years.

Since the defeat of the Coalition government in May last year, Payne has been Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s shadow cabinet secretary.

Dutton said on Friday Payne was a dear friend who helped mentor many young women.

“Our alliance with the United States, Quad partnership and engagement with our Pacific neighbours is in such a strong position today thanks to Marise’s commitment and hard work in the most testing and difficult of circumstances,” he said in a statement.

“Marise has made a grand contribution to our nation and shaped it for the better.”

In her resignation announcement, Payne cited her key achievements as helping establish the AUKUS security pact, working to enhance the Quad strategic partnership between Australia, India, Japan and the United States, and delivering the “Pacific Step Up” plan.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham described Payne’s career as “quiet but impactful”, saying she had made a “powerful contribution of lasting benefit to Australia”.

“Personally, I could not have asked for a better friend or more trustworthy confidant throughout my Senate career,” he said in a statement.

“Again and again, Marise has shown her respect for the institution of the Senate, the primacy of the parliament and the unique role of each parliamentarian.”

NSW Liberal Party president Jason Falinski said Payne had been an “exemplar of public service” over her years in parliament.

Just months after Maria Kovacic beat Constance in the preselection for the late conservative senator Jim Molan’s Senate vacancy, Payne’s announcement will begin speculation about her replacement.

Constance, a close friend and ally of Payne, has been touted by moderates as her chosen successor and is believed to have the backing of the faction.

Mundine, an Indigenous leader who has gained prominence as the Voice No campaign has gained momentum, has also emerged as a strong contender, with powerbrokers hoping he can unite the conservative wing of the party.

Conservative heavyweights were split on whether Mundine would emerge as the faction’s consensus candidate, saying the picture was likely to become clearer in the coming days.

NSW Liberal sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters, said a preselection vote would probably go ahead in four weeks, dismissing theories the party would seek to parachute in a candidate of their choosing.

Last week, amid speculation Payne’s departure was imminent, Mundine did not rule out the prospect of running for the vacancy when contacted by this masthead.

Dutton said Mundine “would have a very serious claim to make”, but noted there were other well-qualified candidates and it would be up to the NSW division of the party to decide.

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