Australian Health Minister on why he quits politics

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Health Minister Greg Hunt said he would like to prioritize his family as he announced that he would leave politics ahead of the next federal election after 20 years in parliament.

Hunt will not challenge the Victorian Flinders seat again, but will continue to steer Australia as Minister of Health and Elderly Care through the COVID-19 pandemic until the next federal election by May next year. ..

He paid tribute to his wife, who he said raised their two children “mainly as a single mother” during his time in Congress.

“If you’re a parliamentarian, you’re just a part-time father or part-time parent,” he said. 2GB radio On Friday. “The older you are, the more your country’s work is separated from your family time. And it’s time.”

“Ultimately, on my bed of death, I will be defined by my family,” he continued. Everything has time and seasons. “

The two 56-year-old fathers said the children “missed a lot of ballet concerts, soccer games, various school events and birthdays.”

“”[My children] I told me, on Sunday, they looked at me and said, “Dad, this is your last chance to be a proper dad.” “Dad, it’s time to go home,” he told Congress on Thursday. Tears speech..

Hunts’ wife, Paula, is a professionally trained nurse educator in the operating room and told NCA NewsWire that she is looking forward to making her family “whole.”

“Greg and I have been together for 18 years, during which time he has shown a solid commitment to voters and the Australian people,” she said.

“It’s a conservative expression to say that he made a tireless effort.”

According to 2GB host Ben Fordham, the Minister of Health, one of the longest-serving ministers of the Union’s eight-year tenure, received about 40,000 media requests during the pandemic in Australia against COVID-19. Is one of the main characters in the response.

The Victorian Parliamentarian was first elected to Parliament in 2001 after his previous legal duties, became an environmental spokesman for the Liberal Party, and served as Minister of the Environment under the Abbott administration.

It was this role that he was one of the key architects behind the abolition of the carbon tax coalition before undertaking a health portfolio following the 2017 cost scandal involving Susan Lee. ..

Hunt also posted his key achievements as Minister of the Environment on his website by establishing the Australian Emissions Reduction Fund and developing the Great Barrier Reef’s 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan.

He is also one of the three Liberal Party members who have served in the Cabinet since the coalition was launched in 2013.

It is speculated that Zoe McKenzie, a non-executive director of NBN and an experienced commercial business adviser, will replace him.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison paid tribute to Hunt, saying Congress would be at a loss.

“Your dad, fellow, he will be very proud,” Morrison said.

“I pray that being with your family will be a wonderful time of blessing, and we look forward to our friendship over the years to come.”

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese also praised Hunt as a “good enemy.”

“Twenty years in parliamentary life has been an important achievement and it is something you can be proud of to be a senior minister of various portfolios,” he said.

NSHunt told Congress that there was still work to be done here in the months leading up to the election.

“There are countries to protect, medicines to list, budgets to prepare, elections to win,” he said.

“But when it’s all over, it’s time to go home.”

Nina Nguyen

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Nina Nguyen is a Sydney-based Vietnamese reporter with a focus on Australian news. Contact her at [email protected].

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