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Federal Labor member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann has announced she won't contest the next federal election, saying she wants to spend more time with her mother and family. Ms Brodtmann was elected to the seat of Canberra in 2010 and had until recently planned on nominating for the new electorate of Bean at the next federal election. "My decision has been made for entirely personal reasons," Ms Brodtmann said in a statement, referring to her mother Faye Anderson, who turned 79 last week. "My mother is now one of the reasons why I am not nominating. By her own admission, Mum has years not decades left. I want to be there for those years." Spending more time with her sisters and extended family has made Ms Brodtmann realise she had missed too many significant moments through her career as a politician. "Representing the people of Canberra has been an enormous honour and privilege and brought me inestimable pride and joy. I love my community. I love being a fierce advocate for it. I will continue to fight for it as long as I am the Member for Canberra," Ms Brodtmann said. Most recently Ms Brodtmann has served as shadow assistant minister for cyber security and defence. She has also been deputy chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories and has campaigned for funding and research into endometriosis. Labor leader Bill Shorten paid tribute to Ms Brodtmann's service to parliament. "Gai’s decision today comes from the heart. It’s driven by that most powerful force, her love for her family. Every one of us can relate to the things Gai feels like she has missed and all of us can understand why she wants to spend more time with the people who mean the most to her in the world," Mr Shorten said in a statement. "Like all Gai’s Caucus colleagues, I will miss her calm counsel, her policy insights, particularly on national and cyber security issues, her command of the 90 second statement, and her deep understanding of, and affection for, our nation’s capital beyond the parliamentary triangle." Fellow federal Labor MP Andrew Leigh said in a statement he was sorry to hear Ms Brodtmann was resigning. "Gai and I entered parliament together in 2010. I have valued her company and her counsel. I will miss her in the next parliament, but I know that she will continue to play a valued role in the Canberra community and on the national stage," the shadow assistant treasurer said. "As shadow assistant minister for cybersecurity and defence, Gai has held the government to account on national security and defence procurement. She has also played a national role on issues of organ donation and chemical contamination on defence facilities, as well as initiating an urgent conversation in parliament and the community to increase awareness of and action on endometriosis. Before entering parliament Ms Brodtmann was a public servant and communications consultant. She is married to Channel Nine's political editor Chris Uhlmann. The resignation comes in the middle of fraught preselection battles for ACT Labor in the Senate and the neighbouring electorate of Canberra, with two lower house seats now without an incumbent.

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