Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will go to the next election without two of his current ministers: Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor.
The pair announced on Thursday they won’t seek reelection when Australians next head to the polls. Albanese will reveal a newly reshuffled cabinet on Sunday.
They join nine other federal politicians who have either announced their impending retirement or lost preselection for their parties. Who are they?
Linda Burney, Labor
The first Indigenous woman to be elected to the House of Representatives and to serve as minister for Indigenous Australians, Burney said it was time to “pass on the baton to the next generation”. She entered federal Parliament in 2016 as the MP for Barton in NSW and previously served 13 years in NSW Parliament.
Brendan O’Connor, Labor
Having held many ministerial positions in the Kevin Rudd and Julia Gilliard governments, he assumed his current portfolio in 2022. O’Connor was first elected to the Victorian lower house seat of Burke in 2001, and became the member for Gorton in 2004. He said on Thursday he wanted to ensure the government “had renewal and regeneration”, and that he wanted to have a better work-life balance.
Louise Pratt, Labor
Pratt was elected to represent Western Australia in the Senate in 2007, and lost her seat in the 2013 election. She was elected again, in 2016, and announced in February that she was retiring, citing health reasons. “I have psoriatic arthritis and it is much better managed when I’m not flying, not chairing estimates and not whipping in the chamber,” she said.
Maria Vamvakinou, Labor
The first woman born in Greece to serve in federal Parliament, Vamvakinou was first elected in 2001 as the MP for Calwell in Victoria. She announced her retirement last month, explaining she’d mulled the decision for “quite a while” and citing her more than two decades in Parliament as a reason behind the move.
Karen Andrews, Liberal
The MP for the Queensland seat of McPherson was first elected in 2010 and served first as minister for industry and then as minister for home affairs under prime minister Scott Morrison, becoming the first female Queensland MP to serve in a cabinet role. She announced her retirement in April 2023 and said she “wanted to ensure the Coalition has maximum time to have a replacement in the crucial home affairs portfolio”.
Warren Entsch, Liberal
Entsch was first elected to the Queensland seat of Leichhardt in 1996, and retired in 2007 to spend more time with his teenage son. He then ran again for the same seat and was reelected in 2010. He announced his second retirement earlier this month, saying it was “time to hand it over to someone else who can bring new ideas and perspectives”.
Nola Marino, Liberal
The former assistant minister for regional development and territories was elected to the Western Australian seat of Forrest in 2007. When she announced her retirement in December 2023, she said she intended to “keep working every day for the benefit of the people in the Forrest electorate”.
Gavin Pearce, Liberal
Having only served as the MP for Braddon in Tasmania since the 2019 election, Pearce announced last month he would not be seeking reelection. He explained he wanted to spend more time with his family, saying: “I am never home, and even when I’m home, I’ve got a million things in my mind.”
Rowan Ramsey, Liberal
The member for Grey in South Australia will not seek reelection next time around, putting an end to a parliamentary career that began in 2007. He said when he announced his retirement in March he was looking forward to spending more time with his family, adding: “I think that maybe we better take a bit of time for ourselves.”
Gerard Rennick, Liberal
Rennick was first elected as a Queensland senator in 2019, and lost a preselection bid in July 2023, losing by just three votes. He subsequently took his own party to court, arguing he was entitled to appeal the ballot, but a judge dismissed the application.
Linda Reynolds, Liberal
The Western Australian senator, first elected in 2014, was minister for defence in the Morrison government and held several other portfolios before then. She said when she announced her retirement in February that political parliaments must be “renewed”.
Mark Coulton, National
The former minister for regional health was first elected to the seat of Parkes in NSW in 2007.
He announced in March he would retire from Parliament, saying, “It’s time for a fresh face to take up the baton.”
Ian Goodenough, Liberal
Goodenough was first elected to the Western Australian seat of Moore in 2013, and lost preselection for the seat in February. He has since said he is considering contesting the seat as a Nationals candidate instead.
