"The sad reality is that [my wife] Georgina has essentially been a single mother in terms of the time I get to spend at home and clearly that puts pressure on her. "It is just about priorities; I still love the job, but it’s time." Liberal MP David Bushby also recently announced his resignation, only to be offered a plum overseas posting 60 minutes later. Ms O’Dwyer, who holds the portfolios of jobs, industrial relations and women, last weekend announced she too would leave politics to spend more time with her children and to attempt to have a third child. In a statement issued at 10.48pm AEDT on Friday, Mr Keenan confirmed his departure, detailing why he decided he would quit. "Today I am announcing that I will not contest the forthcoming federal election," he said.

"Whilst politics is a proud vocation, it is also [a] difficult and exhausting business. The pressures on family life are formidable, as are the constant rigours of being an effective Member of Parliament, as well as a Minister in the government. "I have always worked hard as a Member of Parliament and as a Minister, but after doing this for 15 years, I cannot commit to another term." Over the Christmas break, Mr Keenan said it became "very clear" that his personal circumstances had changed and that quitting politics "was the right one for my family and myself". "When I was first elected 15 years ago, my first child had not yet been born," he said. "I have been an absent father in the lives of my children and now is the time for this to stop. With a newborn child – our family’s fourth – it is unworkable for my family." Mr Keenan went on to list a lengthy set of political achievements, including implementing "Carly’s Law" to crack down on online child predators, before saying that he believed the Coalition could win the next election.

"While it is time for me to retire from politics and pass on the baton to another representative in Stirling, I remain resolutely optimistic about the Coalition government’s prospects at the forthcoming election – not just here in Stirling and Western Australia, but across the nation." Mr Keenan's Liberal colleague Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance and the Public Service, said that the Coalition was "sad to see him go, but entirely understand and respect the reasons for his decision". "Serving in the federal Parliament at such a senior level from WA is tough on our families," Senator Cormann said. Mr Keenan, 46, has held his West Australian seat of Stirling since 2004, when he won it off the Labor Party. He served in cabinet from late 2017 until August, when he was demoted by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The departure of one of the government’s younger ministers is yet another blow for Mr Morrison, who faces a significant loss at the upcoming election if polls prove correct.