Long-serving Western Australian Labor minister Alannah MacTiernan has announced her retirement.
Ms MacTiernan, who is the minister for regional development, agriculture and food, and the hydrogen industry, revealed she would step down from the cabinet and would retire from parliament in early 2023.
"It's a great privilege to serve as a minister," she said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.
"To have an opportunity to shape the agenda for the state. But, at the end of the day, it is also a very demanding, and very all-absorbing [job].
"It gets to a point where you say, well, as much as I want to keep on doing, working to advance the cause of good … I need to perhaps do it in a less intensive way.
"I have had, by modern standards, a long political career. I've been 26 years in Parliament, and I have had 13 years of ministerial life."
Ms MacTiernan first joined the Australian Labor Party in 1976 as part of the University branch, formed the Highgate branch in 1979, and took her first position in WA Parliament in 1993 as a member for the East Metropolitan Region.
While still wanting to remain "actively engaged", she said her reason for stepping down was to get away from the "24-hour, seven-day-a-week-type involvement" of being in cabinet, and also highlighted her hope for nurturing upcoming talent.
MacTiernan makes way for young blood
"We have an extraordinary bunch of talented and committed people coming up behind us in Parliament," Ms MacTiernan said.
"I take very seriously, also, this role of creating opportunities and allowing people who are coming forward … there's always got to be room for them to grow."
Before the last state election in 2020, Ms MacTiernan agreed to stay on Premier Mark McGowan's cabinet, but said it would be her last term.
"Now, it's time to move on," she said.
Ms MacTiernan said she would continue "sprinting to the finish line" over the remaining seven weeks of her tenure.
"We have got many projects that we have on the boil, and we want to get those delivered and make sure that the portfolios are in great shape to hand over to the next generation," she said.
Premier Mark McGowan described Ms MacTiernan as a politician who was "always available for her constituents".
"Alannah is one of those people who is incredibly passionate, works extremely hard, devotes herself to her duties, never shirks responsibility," he said.
Ms MacTiernan moved away from the WA Parliament in 2009 to try her hand in federal politics, serving as the member for Perth between 2013 and 2016.
She did not contest her seat at the 2016 federal election, signalling the end of her relatively short stay in Canberra.
In 2017, the Premier parachuted Ms MacTiernan back into state politics to serve in his cabinet after Labor's landslide state election win.
"She's had an extraordinary political career. The City of Perth, the Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly, the Federal Parliament, the Town of Vincent, and now the Legislative Council once again … it's really quite something."
"I don't think anyone's ever done that before. Anywhere, anytime."
Her longest-serving ministerial appointment was as the minister for planning and infrastructure, from 2001 to 2008, during which projects including the Mandurah rail line and the Forrest Highway were developed. She was also WA's first minister for the hydrogen industry.
The Labor veteran's resignation comes at the tail-end of a tumultuous year which saw some farmers lose faith in her ability as the agriculture minister as the threat of foot-and-mouth disease loomed, following comments she made that the disease would "not see all of the cattle industry decimated" - a sentiment that ran contrary to some fears in the industry at the time.
Ms MacTiernan was also at loggerheads with some in the agriculture sector for her stance on live animal exports – having placed a seasonal ban on live trades – and emphasis on regenerative farming, with Mr McGowan calling her the "mother of carbon farming in Western Australia".
Criticism from farmers
WA Farmers President John Hassell acknowledged she worked hard, but said some of Ms MacTiernan's decisions and comments as the agriculture minister were at odds with the industry.
"Apart from her silly comments … she jumped straight onto foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease, and the department of agriculture worked really hard," he said.
"In terms of disappointing things, I think her mad drive to try and pursue an ideology of regenerative agriculture … would be a disaster for Western Australian farmers.
"She may well have worked hard, but working hard in the wrong direction is not working hard for us … it's a good move that she's decided to retire.
Ms MacTiernan backed her stance against live animal exports, saying it was a "really, really small part" of a "much more profoundly important story to be told about agriculture".
"I think I'm going to be on the right side of history," she said.
Ms MacTiernan said while her passion to "advance the cause of good" remained strong, she would not make a return to state politics.
"Whilst I certainly will be wanting to do things and … take the cause of good forward. I can say I will never be going back into parliament."
Praise from the other side
Former WA Liberal minister Tony Simpson paid tribute to Ms MacTiernan's decades-long career in the state's corridors of power.
"It's a pretty amazing effort, I've got to take my hat off [to] Alannah [who] is never one to back down from a challenge," he said.
"She was one of those formidable members and ministers in my 12 years in the chamber."
Mr Simpson is now the chief executive of Regional Development Australia Pilbara.
He said whoever takes Ms MacTiernan's ministries would need a passion for regional issues if they are to be successful.
"I'm really hoping someone who gets in the role has a good understanding of regional WA," he said.
"That person needs a passion for what they're doing. And that's what you saw in Alannah."
