After much deliberation, I have decided not to recontest the seat of McPherson at the next election, and as a result I have asked Peter Dutton not to include me in his new Shadow Ministry.
Having made the decision to call time on my political career, I wanted to ensure the Coalition has maximum time to have a replacement in the crucial Home Affairs portfolio, and the best local candidate for McPherson in place.
It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve this nation as Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, and as Minister for Industry, Science and Technology under a Coalition Government, and on the shadow front bench as Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence.
I am proud to have been the first female Queensland MP in a Cabinet role, and I am even prouder of the strong work the Coalition did in government to safeguard Australia’s national security – including introducing world-leading legislation to protect Australia’s critical infrastructure – to stand up our manufacturing sector to create PPE and other items for our national stockpile during the COVID-19 pandemic, to strengthen our nation’s space sector by positioning Australia on the global map, to drive gender equity in STEM, and many other things that I will never, ever forget we achieved in my lifetime and during my time in service.
It has been an immense privilege.
I want to thank the Liberal National Party members for entrusting me with my preselection, my tireless staff, my Parliamentary colleagues, and the incredible personal protection team at the AFP – and, of course, I want to thank my loving family for their unwavering support and their endless understanding of my demanding travel schedule, constant phone interruptions and for regularly cutting short our Sunday lunches to fly down to Canberra.
I will continue to support the party position on the Voice and to campaign hard for a Coalition victory at the next election.
I look forward to continuing to serve my constituents with honour and diligence until the next election, and represent their concerns as the Federal Member for McPherson.