Australia: former Foreign Affairs, Defence Minister Marise Payne announces her retirement

Marise Payne has been a member of the Australian Senate for more than a quarter of a century. Payne's identified as a moderate with the Liberal Party, which is in actuality the country's primary conservative political party.

She is among the delegation to the Parliament of Australia from the State of New South Wales. Payne has held some of the most powerful public offices in her country.

She is now apparently ready to move to a different chapter in her life.

Says she will soon step down

The Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Broadcasting Company report that Marise Payne will resign from the Senate. She will apparently serve until the end of September before calling it a day.

Payne's impending exit has led to tributes from many of her colleagues. Including from Liberal Party Leader Peter Dutton and Senate Liberal Leader Simon Birmingham. As well as from former Deputy Prime Minister and National Party Leader Michael McCormack.

In earlier years, Payne was president of the New South Wales chapter of the Young Liberals organization.

Followed by presiding over the organization on a national level. Eventually, she became an official with the party in her native state.

Payne first ran for the Senate in 1991, that time falling short. She was also a staffer for Senator and future Defence Minister Robert Hill and New South Wales Premier John Fahey. In 1997, she ran for the Senate again and won. Payne has been re-elected four times in the years that followed.

In 2013, Prime Minister Tony Abbott appointed her as the minister for human services. She was at first kept on in that post by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. But Turnbull quickly moved Payne to the role of minister for defence.

She was also initially maintained in that role by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

But Morrison eventually moved her to the portfolio of minister for foreign affairs in 2018. The following year, Morrison also added minister for women to Payne's titles.

Payne served in both Cabinet roles until 2022. More recently, she has been serving as the Shadow Cabinet secretary for Dutton.

Survived a near-fatal road accident while a student

Marise Payne was born in Sydney and raised in nearby Bardwell Park. In her youth, she was educated at MLC School in Burwood. Payne later earned a pair of degrees from the University of New South Wales.

During her time as a university student, Payne experienced a catastrophic car crash. Payne was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling near Michelago in the state's southern region.

Her neck was broken as a result of the wreck, but she was able to recover.

Payne has been in a long-term romantic relationship with Stuart Ayres. Ayres is a former prominent political figure at the state level in New South Wales.