Tasmanian senator says it was ‘extremely difficult decision to make’ and he will leave ‘proud and grateful but exhausted’

The Tasmanian senator, 43, says he will not contest the next election to spend more time with his family.

The widely respected home affairs spokesman is the second Tasmanian Liberal senator to quit in less than a week. He’ll leave politics by the end of the year.

The Liberal senator has spent 25 years in politics. He said resigning was something he'd been weighing up "for a while".

Tasmanian senator says it was ‘extremely difficult decision to make’ and he will leave ‘proud and grateful but exhausted’