There’s no doubt that Julie Bishop has had an illustrious career that most could only dream of, but despite this, the former foreign minister continues to be questioned over why she chose to focus on her work rather than having children.
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Despite having a number of long-term relationships and a five-year marriage, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party has previously admitted that her childlessness wasn’t due to personal choice, but rather, simply how her life unfolded.
“It wasn’t a decision – it is how life turned out,” she admitted in an interview with Kidspot.
She detailed this further back in 2013 in an interview with News Corp, where she spoke of how women are often forced to choose between a fulfilling career or family life.
“Women can’t have it all,” Bishop said. “They can have plenty of choices, but at the end of the day, they choose something which means they can’t have something else.”
She went on to explain that after entering politics at the age of 40, her choices quickly became limited when it came to building a family.
“I was 40 when I went into politics and the window closes pretty quickly at 40. So politics is pretty much my life. I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve had the kind of career that is so consuming that I don’t feel I have a void in my life.”
Despite this, the 61-year-old insists she has no regrets over chasing her career aspirations.
“At 37, that’s when I decided to go off to Harvard and did all these things, and it was very much about what I wanted to achieve in my life,” she said.
“I’ve never been through a grieving process and now I wouldn’t, because what’s the point?” she added. “I’m not having kids, there’s no point lamenting what was or what could have been.”
Like the rest of her personal life, Bishop has always been very open when it comes to her romantic life.
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Julie went on to embrace a few high-profile relationships since her divorce from Gillon, most notably former Liberal Senator Ross Lightfoot and former Perth Lord Mayor Peter Nattrass in the past.
More recently, it was revealed that she and her partner David Panton had broken up after eight years of dating.
The Sydney property developer ended things with the former foreign minister at the end of June 2022, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I’m going to be focused on living in Manly and Melbourne for the foreseeable future,” David said of the split which occurred just a week after they visited London together and dined with Prince Charles.
“I wish Julie all the best in her ongoing stellar career.”
Bishop did not respond to the statement.
Julie and David are believed to have begun dating around 2014, when they were first seen in public together. At the time, David worked as a property developer while Julie was serving as Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Following the break-up, Julie faced an awkward situation during an appearance on Today when she was quizzed over the recent split.
“First we just wanted to check in and see how you are because, look, it’s tough going through a break-up, particularly when it is public,” Allison asked Julie as they kicked off the interview.
Seemingly wanting to deflect the awkward conversation, the 66-year-old replied bluntly, “I’m fine, but I’m wondering how you two are doing?”
Feeling the palpable tension in the air, Karl cut in quickly, saying, “I don‘t want to think about it too much, it is a Monday morning. As long as you’re OK.”
“I’m fine. Now that’s settled, let’s go onto the video,” Julie responded before steering the conversation toward her promotional video in which she starred alongside Hollywood stars Kate Walsh and Hugh Jackman.
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