ID :
202148
Thu, 08/18/2011 - 14:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/202148
The shortlink copeid
Coonan departs proud of political 'firsts'
SYDNEY (AAP) - Former Howard government minister Helen Coonan has announced she's quitting politics and declared she's proud to have been the first woman to hold a federal treasury portfolio.
Senator Coonan was elected to the upper house in 1996 and went on to become a cabinet minister and deputy leader of the government in the Senate.
"These appointments gave me my fair share of `firsts' being, so far as I am aware, the only woman thus far to have held a Treasury portfolio and the first woman to join a federal coalition government's leadership team," the veteran NSW senator said on Thursday.
Senator Coonan served on the government benches - as revenue minister, assistant treasurer and communications minister - until the Howard government lost office in late 2007.
Since then she's failed to "relish the battle" as fervently as when she was in government.
"It is fair to say that the `dark days of opposition' are indeed an apt description," Senator Coonan said.
Senator Coonan will officially resign next week. She's stepping down because of a family illness.
Opposition Senate leader Eric Abetz noted that Senator Coonan wanted to depart without too much fanfare.
He said the coalition understood her reasons for leaving and respected them.
"We wish our valued colleague all the best for the future, good health and happiness," Senator Abetz said.
"In particular, we also especially extend that wish to her husband."
It's been reported that John Howard's former chief-of-staff Arthur Sinodinos could take her place.
Senator Coonan's seat in the Senate will go to a candidate selected by the NSW Liberal Party.
The outgoing senator said she didn't want her final contribution to parliament to be partisan.
But that didn't stop her having a dig at the Gillard government's broadband and climate change policies.
Senator Coonan also bought into the current debate over coal seam gas exploration.
"Although issues related to land use are primarily state responsibilities, surely it should not be beyond our collective wit as a nation to devise a framework which maps and designates prime agricultural land that should be conserved in the national interest," she said.
It should be done in such a way as not "to discourage forms of foreign investment".
In listing her achievements, Senator Coonan trumpeted major reform of Australia's prudential regulation of financial institutions.
"These reforms and the soundness of the regulatory settings then introduced have been acknowledged as a key factor contributing to Australia's resilience to external shocks, and capacity to withstand the worst effects of global financial volatility," Senator Coonan said.
Senator Coonan was elected to the upper house in 1996 and went on to become a cabinet minister and deputy leader of the government in the Senate.
"These appointments gave me my fair share of `firsts' being, so far as I am aware, the only woman thus far to have held a Treasury portfolio and the first woman to join a federal coalition government's leadership team," the veteran NSW senator said on Thursday.
Senator Coonan served on the government benches - as revenue minister, assistant treasurer and communications minister - until the Howard government lost office in late 2007.
Since then she's failed to "relish the battle" as fervently as when she was in government.
"It is fair to say that the `dark days of opposition' are indeed an apt description," Senator Coonan said.
Senator Coonan will officially resign next week. She's stepping down because of a family illness.
Opposition Senate leader Eric Abetz noted that Senator Coonan wanted to depart without too much fanfare.
He said the coalition understood her reasons for leaving and respected them.
"We wish our valued colleague all the best for the future, good health and happiness," Senator Abetz said.
"In particular, we also especially extend that wish to her husband."
It's been reported that John Howard's former chief-of-staff Arthur Sinodinos could take her place.
Senator Coonan's seat in the Senate will go to a candidate selected by the NSW Liberal Party.
The outgoing senator said she didn't want her final contribution to parliament to be partisan.
But that didn't stop her having a dig at the Gillard government's broadband and climate change policies.
Senator Coonan also bought into the current debate over coal seam gas exploration.
"Although issues related to land use are primarily state responsibilities, surely it should not be beyond our collective wit as a nation to devise a framework which maps and designates prime agricultural land that should be conserved in the national interest," she said.
It should be done in such a way as not "to discourage forms of foreign investment".
In listing her achievements, Senator Coonan trumpeted major reform of Australia's prudential regulation of financial institutions.
"These reforms and the soundness of the regulatory settings then introduced have been acknowledged as a key factor contributing to Australia's resilience to external shocks, and capacity to withstand the worst effects of global financial volatility," Senator Coonan said.
