MP says he needs to step down after less than two years to be a better father to his three children • Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon

Tim Hammond has announced his intention to resign from parliament, with the Western Australian Labor MP explaining that he did not fully appreciate the impact life as a politician would have on his family – and on him.

Hammond, who was elected as the member for Perth in 2016, said he was “drawing a line in the sand” and could not wait another 12 months or so until the next federal election, and ruled out another tilt at public office, even at state level.



The surprise resignation, which came just moments after the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, finished his media conference, had been in the works a long time, an emotional Hammond told the Perth radio 6PR.

“Privately, Lindsay, my wife, and I, tried everything under the sun to make this work in a way that I felt wasn’t compromising my ability just to be the best dad I could be,” he said.

“We sought professional help with that, we have had enormous amount of support from friends, from the party itself to try and make it work. And I guess I got to the point fairly recently where I just had to make a judgment call, because you can keep putting these things off, but what was fundamentally crucial to me was I would never get this time back in terms of being an important figure in the lives of my kids as they are growing up.

“So with the uncertainty around how much longer this term will take, I just had to make a decision to do what was very best for Lindsay, my three kids and also for me.”

Hammond said he did not want others to think that life was “unmanageable” for politicians in the west – it was just unmanageable for him.

“Others make it work on both sides of the divide,” he said. “I just have to be really honest and say I cannot make it work. The fact is, the parliament is a place where good things get done. The privilege is immense.

Tim is a very decent, highly capable individual with a bright future in whatever he decides to do next Mathias Cormann

“But you just have to listen to your gut sometimes and the longer that I stayed in this role, the more it required an appropriate level of commitment, which was just taking me further and further away from being on the ground, at home, with clarity and presence for three little kids who desperately need their dad and I desperately need them.”

Hammond’s children are six, two and a half and seven months old. He is expected to return to his previous profession as a lawyer. Labor holds the seat with a 3.3 per cent margin.

Shorten thanked his shadow resources minister for his service and said he respected his choice “as we all should”.



“By parliamentary standards, Tim is a young man and everything he had achieved to date pointed to a long and successful career in federal politics,” he said.

“But after two years of travel and a lot of time spent on the opposite side of the country, Tim has decided to put his family first. He wants to be there for his wife and children more often. That’s something all of us feel very deeply and none of us can argue with.

“As a colleague and a friend, I’m disappointed he won’t be part of our next caucus but, as a husband and a father, I’m glad he’ll be with the people he cares about most in this world.”

Hammond’s Liberal WA colleague Mathias Cormann was one of the first to thank Hammond, describing his resignation as a “loss to the state”.

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“While we are political competitors, we are also friends and colleagues involved in the same profession focused on making a positive difference to our community and to our country,” Cormann said.

“Tim is a very decent, highly capable individual with a bright future in whatever he decides to do next.

“Public service as a federal politician from WA is tough on our families. There is no question about that. So I understand and respect the decision that he and his family have come to.”

Last year the South Australian Labor MP Kate Ellis announced she would not be recontesting her seat at the next election, as she wanted to spend more time with her young children.

Hammond has not officially resigned from parliament yet, and said he would meet his immediate commitments before formally notifying the Speaker, which will send the electorate of Perth to a byelection.