Tasmanian Liberal senator Wendy Askew will quit the Senate within weeks, ending more than seven years representing her home state in federal parliament.
Askew announced her resignation in a speech to the Senate today, telling colleagues her family was the reason she was stepping away.
“When I first stood in this place in April 2019, I said that none of us knows what the future holds. None of us knows how long we have to serve here,” she said.
“I have been so grateful to have served my fellow Tasmanians and my country for more than seven years.”
Askew entered the Senate after filling a casual vacancy created by the resignation of her brother, former senator David Bushby.
She was elected in her own right at the 2022 election.
She has served as chief opposition whip in the Senate since 2022, a leadership role responsible for keeping the opposition organised and disciplined.
Askew said the whip’s job was demanding and often unseen.
“The work is often invisible when it is done well, but it matters,” she said.
During her time in parliament, she took part in more than 100 committee inquiries, including 47 as chair or deputy chair.
She singled out a rare cancer inquiry, the first national Parkinson’s action plan and a current epilepsy inquiry due to report soon as career highlights.
Askew, who was born and raised in Launceston, said Tasmania had shaped her politics.
“My family, my work, my community, my politics and my sense of public duty all have their roots in Tasmania,” she said.
She thanked Liberal Party members, Senate colleagues and staff and paid tribute to her husband John, whom she married just months before entering parliament.
“John and I are looking forward to travelling and, most importantly, enjoying precious time with our family,” she said.
The couple have four young grandchildren, the youngest born just four weeks ago.
Her departure follows that of fellow Tasmanian Liberal Jonathon Duniam, who announced in June he would not seek re-election.
