Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones will not contest the upcoming federal election, announcing his retirement from parliament.
Jones, who represents the Illawarra electorate of Whitlam in NSW, first entered parliament in 2010.
The outgoing MP expressed thanks to his family and community for support during his five terms in office.
“After 15 years and five elections, I have decided it is time for me, and that this will be my last term of office as the member for Whitlam,” he said.
“Everything that I’ve done has been a group effort and, in large part, has been a result of the amazing commitment, loyalty, dedication and the brilliance of the people who have worked here. From the bottom my heart, I want to thank you for everything you have done for me.
“It has been a long journey but a great one. Together we have done lots of things.”
Jones was appointed Assistant Treasurer after Labor won the 2022 federal election.
During his term, he has had a focus on cracking down on scams and boosting access for financial advice.
Jones’ seat of Whitlam is safe for Labor, with the Illawarra area traditionally being a stronghold for the party.
“When we came into government, inflation was double what it is today. So we have put a lot of work into bringing inflation down and supporting people,” he said.
“There were many people saying we should just slash and burn. Australia would be in a recession today if we followed their advice – and that would mean instead of millions of people being in work, there would be millions of people who were out of work.
“People will criticise the decisions we have made, but they were right [decisions], because it means Australians, particularly young Australians are in jobs today and I’m proud of that.”
Pre-selection will be carried out for the seat ahead of the next federal election, which is due to be held by May 17 at the latest.
Opinion polls show Labor has work to do to win a second term, with the latest Newspoll showing the government trailing the Coalition 51 per cent to 49 on a two-party preferred basis.
Jones’ retirement follows the resignations of other government frontbench members, including Bill Shorten, Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor. Several Coalition MPs have also announced their departure from politics.
– with AAP