Despite being one of the Liberals’ strongest performers, frontbencher Jonno Duniam is quitting politics by the end of this year – and leaving with some regrets.
Duniam, 43, is Angus Taylor’s home affairs spokesman and has been in the Senate for nearly a decade. He’s been central in the crafting of the opposition’s immigration policy, which is still to be fully released.
Duniam joined the podcast to reflect on his time in politics, the future of the Liberals, dealing with One Nation – and how his sons responded to the news of him quitting politics.
I’ve been in and around politics for 25 years, ten of those as a senator […] It means you aren’t there to help with the very basic things, like getting ready for school and packing lunches and picking up and dropping off.
[…] It is not a good feeling sitting in Canberra doing your job while there is an issue that needs dealing with for family. And I know that is a common issue. I’ve talked about with colleagues across the political spectrum […] This is not unique to politics [… But] when you’re 20, 25 weeks of the year away from home, it does mount up.
Duniam recounts breaking the news of his retirement to his three boys, aged 11 to 17.
I snuck out early to pick up three copies of the local newspaper in which the story was broken that I was going to be leaving politics. And I left a copy of the paper for each of my sons. And my youngest son, Spencer, got up and read it and he was heard to say, as he was flicking through the paper, ‘I never thought this day would come.’ He’s my youngest.
My oldest has missed out on a lot of me being around, he’s on the verge of turning 18. And my 15 year old, I think you could only say is elated by this decision. So I know very much that I’ve made the right call, and I think those boys are going to benefit.
Why he’s leaving, even with some guilt
Duniam denied he was quitting politics because of the Coalition’s faltering performance – now running a long way third in the polls, behind One Nation and Labor:
It’s got nothing to do with where we’re at, but everything to do with my own life and where I’m at […] Now that does leave me with a feeling of guilt, I’ll be honest. There’s a sense of regret in leaving friends and trusted colleagues on the field of battle, when they’re going to keep fighting a very, very tough fight and I’m leaving.
[…] That is something that doesn’t sit easily with me, but […] I can’t do my job justice and be a father to my boys properly. Something was going to have to give and I made the decision that it is my boys and my family that came first, ahead of this job, after ten years of giving it everything I’ve got.
Looking for ‘signs of life’ in the Liberals
On why the Liberals are in such a bad state, Duniam said they did “nothing” during the nine months after the 2025 election.
For the first nine months after that devastating election result, we did nothing. We did nothing to turn the dial […] When you’re out in the community, people [were] saying, you know ‘come on, you guys have got to get your act together.’
[…] In the lead up to our leadership change, there was frankly you know, no sign of us doing that […] And that’s why, in my belief, people started changing when it comes to answering those polling questions – ‘Who would you vote for? One Nation, the Liberals, Labor, Green’ – people were going from the Libs to One Nation in great numbers.
He said since becoming Liberal leader, Angus Taylor had been providing “signs of life” for Australians who’d turned away from the party – and while “it’s far from job done”, the Liberals were “on the right track” now.
Why it’s ‘mad’ to be talking One Nation deals now
On potential preference deals with One Nation, Duniam said it’s “mad” to suggest the party should be considering that now:
I do not for one minute subscribe to this notion that we should be having conversations about preference deals or coalition governments right now. It’s mad to suggest that that’s what we should be doing as a party. Would you ever see a Labor politician saying, ‘you know what, it’s okay if you want to vote Green, because we are not, sort of, Green enough for you’.
On the Coalition’s immigration policy
Duniam isn’t quitting politics immediately, partly because he wants to finalise his party’s immigration policy before he goes.
On the challenge of crafting that policy without dividing Australians, Duniam said:
The immigration debate – if you just take the headline out of a press conference that I may have done or Angus or whoever – it’s easy to turn it into a divisive anti-immigrant rant from the Liberals trying to outdo One Nation.
[But] when you sit down and explain it to someone who might have misapprehended our policy intentions, they accept what we’re doing and think, ‘oh, that’s actually not so bad after all beyond the headline’. That is the difficulty in Australian politics, of course.
We’ve got to talk to all Australians on issues that are important to them. And […] if we keep trying out One Nation, One Nation on […] particular issues like immigration to the exclusion of others, then we won’t win back these votes. But I know our plan will be for all Australians, on a range of issues that everyone is concerned about.
Attracting young talent, despite ‘clowns in Canberra’
Duniam was still confident young people would keep wanting to join politics, as he did at an early age. But he agreed the state of the politics today doesn’t always help.
We don’t help ourselves when we behave in certain ways, and people think ‘who would be a politician? Look at those clowns in Canberra.’ So there is an element of the nature of the industry we’re in that probably is less helpful to attracting young people than the busyness of the job itself.
He said none of his three sons wanted to run for politics now – but he would support them if they ever changed their minds.
I think we do need good people – and I hope to raise good men in my sons – to run for parliament […] I’ve loved doing this job. Yes, there have been times I’ve hated it. Of course, I’d be lying to you if I said otherwise. But, by and large, it’s been the privilege and honour of a lifetime to represent Tasmania in the Senate.
[…] That is the one thing I will leave parliament knowing […] There are a lot of flawed, broken people in that building, and I happen to be one of them. But, for the most part, people want to the best they can for the people they represent. I might disagree with how they want to get there, or the policy or the law that they’re proposing, but I applaud them for wanting to have a go.
