Senior government MP Ian Macfarlane has announced his retirement as the polling gap tightens between the Coalition and Labor.
The veteran Queensland MP has decided not to contest his seat of Groom at the next election after 18 years in parliament, nine of which he spent as a minister.
Five Liberal MPs and two Nationals have signalled they won’t contest the election due around September, with nine ALP members also retiring.
Mr Macfarlane (60) said he had made his decision late last year and announced it now in order to give his party time to find a replacement.
He was demoted to the backbench after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took over from Tony Abbott last year, and his attempted shift to the Nationals was blocked in December by the state executive.
