Ex-FM Bishop retires in new blow to Aussie government

SYDNEY: Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop announced her retirement from politics yesterday in a fresh blow to the conservative government already struggling just months ahead of general elections.

Bishop, widely considered the most popular politician in the ruling Liberal Party of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, stunned her parliamentary colleagues with the decision not to re-contest her West Australian seat in elections due by mid-May.

“I will leave this place, positive about the future, proud of the service that I have been able to give to my electorate of Curtin, my beloved Liberal Party, the state of Western Australia and my country,” she said to standing applause from both sides of parliament.

Bishop was the first woman to serve as Australia’s foreign minister, from 2013 to 2018, and as the deputy Liberal leader, a position she held for 11 years.

Her standing in the party suffered when right-wing powerbrokers ousted moderate Malcolm Turnbull as Liberal leader and prime minister in August.

Bishop was one of three candidates to run for the leadership in Turnbull’s place, but was snubbed by party colleagues despite opinion polls showing her as the most popular Liberal politician.

“Thank you @JulieBishopMP for your service to our nation and our Party and, above all, your friendship over so many years,” Bishop’s close ally Turnbull tweeted soon after her announcement.

“You have been our finest Foreign Minister — eloquent, elegant and always courageous advancing our national interest in these challenging times,” he said.