I am leaving the field of battle and leaving them on it
In the quiet of a Sunday announcement, Tasmanian Liberal senator Jonno Duniam chose family and restoration over the field of battle, stepping away from a decade of parliamentary service not in defeat but in depletion. His departure arrives as the Coalition confronts polling depths unseen in living memory, with One Nation now outpacing both major parties — a realignment that raises questions not merely about electoral arithmetic but about the enduring purpose of institutions once thought permanent. Duniam's exit is not a defection or a protest; it is something more sobering — the quiet withdrawal of a committed person who simply ran out of the energy that sustained commitment requires.
- The Coalition is bleeding from within — not from ideological revolt, but from the quieter wound of exhaustion, as a decade-long frontbencher walks away citing the toll of leadership turmoil rather than any disagreement with the cause.
- One Nation's primary vote has surpassed both Labor and the Liberals for the first time, turning what was once unthinkable into a polling reality that forces the party to confront the possibility of historic electoral obliteration.
- Desperate voices within Coalition ranks have floated seat-sharing deals with One Nation, a proposal swiftly rejected by both opposition leader Angus Taylor and Duniam himself as a premature surrender of political identity.
- Duniam's exit follows fellow Tasmanian senator Wendy Askew's departure, and the back-to-back losses from the same state expose fracture lines in party structure that succession planning alone cannot easily repair.
- Taylor has asked Duniam to complete the Coalition's immigration policy work before leaving — a small act of continuity in a party scrambling to project stability as the federal election draws closer.
Jonno Duniam, a 43-year-old Tasmanian senator and the Liberal Party's home affairs spokesperson, announced on Sunday that he would leave parliament before year's end. He has held his seat since 2016, but it was not the prospect of electoral defeat that moved him — he said the outcome of the next election would not have changed his decision either way. What changed it was the exhaustion of recent months. The party's leadership transition earlier this year had cost him something personal, something harder to replenish than policy positions. After twenty-five years in the party, he said, he needed to be present for his three sons in a way that parliament no longer allowed.
His language, though, carried the weight of ambivalence. He spoke of "leaving the field of battle" while his colleagues remained on it — not a comfortable feeling, he admitted. Opposition leader Angus Taylor called him a genuine loss and asked him to finish the Coalition's immigration policy work before departing, a request Duniam accepted.
The timing sharpens the difficulty. Polling published in May showed One Nation's primary vote surpassing both Labor and the Liberals for the first time — a development that has prompted some within Coalition ranks to float seat-sharing arrangements with One Nation to consolidate the anti-Labor vote. Taylor rejected the idea. Duniam dismissed it too, warning that waving the white flag prematurely was itself a failure of duty.
Duniam's exit follows that of fellow Tasmanian senator Wendy Askew, and the consecutive departures from the same state suggest something structural rather than incidental. Newly elected Liberal president Tony Abbott expressed disappointment while calling on the party to put every available hand to work against what polling suggests could be a defining defeat.
What the departure ultimately measures is not seats or swing margins but morale — the slow erosion of commitment among those who have given decades to an institution now in its deepest crisis in memory. Duniam did not leave over ideology. He left because he was tired. In a party fighting for its relevance, that kind of loss carries a warning that no polling number fully captures.
Jonno Duniam, a Tasmanian senator and one of the Liberal Party's most visible frontbenchers, announced on Sunday that he would leave parliament before the year's end. The decision arrives as the Coalition faces its worst polling numbers in decades, a moment of acute vulnerability that makes his departure sting harder for a party already struggling to hold ground.
Duniam, 43, has held his seat since 2016 and currently serves as the opposition's home affairs spokesperson. He framed his exit as a choice made independent of electoral circumstance—he said the outcome of the next election, whether landslide or defeat, would not have changed his mind. What did change his mind, he explained, was the wear of recent months. The party's leadership transition earlier this year, he said, had been exhausting and difficult in ways that went beyond policy disagreement. It was personal. His energy had drained. After a quarter-century in the party, he needed to be present for his three sons and his family in a way that parliament no longer allowed.
Yet Duniam's language revealed the tension in his choice. He spoke of "letting down the team" even as he stepped away from it. "I am leaving the field of battle and leaving them on it, which is not a good feeling," he said. Opposition leader Angus Taylor, upon hearing the news, asked Duniam to complete the Coalition's immigration policy work before departing—a request Duniam accepted. Taylor called him a loss, praising his intelligence and command of his brief.
The timing compounds the Coalition's difficulties. One Nation's primary vote has now surpassed both Labor and the Liberals for the first time, according to polling published in May. The party faces the prospect of electoral obliteration if that trend holds through to the next federal election. Some within Coalition ranks have begun floating desperate measures: earlier in the week, a conservative South Australian Liberal suggested the party should negotiate seat-sharing deals with One Nation to avoid splitting the anti-Labor vote. Taylor rejected the idea swiftly. Duniam, too, dismissed it as premature and counterproductive. "If we're just going to wave the white flag and say that it's over now," he said, "then we're not doing our job properly."
Duniam's retirement follows that of fellow Tasmanian senator Wendy Askew, who announced her own departure after being appointed to fill a casual vacancy in 2019. The back-to-back exits from the same state signal fracture lines within the party structure. Newly elected Liberal president Tony Abbott said he was "very disappointed" but acknowledged the toll public life exacts. He called on the party to put "every hand on deck" to prevent what polling suggests could be a historic defeat.
What Duniam's departure really signals is something harder to measure than votes or seats: the erosion of morale among those who have invested decades in the institution. He did not cite policy disagreement or ideological drift. He cited exhaustion. He cited the need to show up for his children. In a party facing its deepest crisis in memory, the loss of someone regarded as talented and committed reads as a warning about what sustained crisis does to the people inside it.
Notable Quotes
When the leadership change came along, it started to really wear on me. It was less about direction and more about my personal energy levels.— Jonno Duniam
I've got three boys, I've got a family that I need to ensure have me around as well, and that's why I made this decision.— Jonno Duniam
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a single senator's retirement matter so much to the Coalition right now?
Because Duniam isn't just any backbencher. He's a frontbencher, a home affairs spokesperson, someone the party has invested in and relied on. When talented people leave, it's not just about the seat—it's about the signal it sends to everyone else still in the trenches.
But he said the polls didn't matter to his decision. So what actually broke him?
The leadership change. He was explicit about that. It wasn't ideology or direction—it was the personal toll of the chaos. When you're already exhausted and your party goes through a leadership upheaval, that becomes the moment you realize you don't have to stay.
He mentioned feeling like he was letting down the team. Does he actually believe that, or is it just what you say when you leave?
I think he believes it. The language he used—"leaving the field of battle"—suggests real conflict. He's not angry at the party. He's sad about it. That's almost worse for morale than if he'd stormed out.
What does One Nation's surge have to do with his decision?
Directly? Maybe nothing. But contextually, everything. The party is in freefall. Some members are already talking about surrender deals. That atmosphere of desperation and dysfunction—that's what wears people down, especially someone who's given 25 years.
Could he come back?
Unlikely. He's made a choice about what his life should be. That's not a negotiable position. The real question is whether other talented people start making the same calculation.