Two senior ministers who overcame personal tragedies to serve for decades in parliament have spoken emotionally about their time in office as they prepare to retire at the next election.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor will step down at the next federal vote, due by May 2025, sparking speculation about what shape a cabinet reshuffle will take.

Ms Burney’s son died in 2017 and Mr O’Connor’s wife in 2018.

The Indigenous minister has lived a life of firsts, including being the first Indigenous person in NSW parliament, the first Indigenous woman in the House of Representatives and the first Indigenous woman to take on the portfolio.

“But I won’t be the last – to me that is progress and it’s time to hand the baton on,” she said alongside the prime minister and Mr O’Connor in Sydney on Thursday.

“I have been through more than my fair share of life’s ups and downs but I think I’ve done it with kindness, grace, resilience, intelligence and integrity.”

On the failed referendum for an Indigenous voice to parliament and constitutional recognition, Ms Burney said there were silver linings in millions of Australians voting ‘yes’ and she had given her all to reconciliation.

“I was in Redfern in 1993 when Paul Keating made his Redfern speech, on the Sydney Harbor Bridge in 2000 for the walk for reconciliation, I was in the chamber when Kevin Rudd made his apology on behalf of the Australian people in 2008.

“I’ve seen a lot, and let me tell you that progress doesn’t always move in a straight line.

“But with every passing generation, the arc bends a little bit more towards justice – I’ve done my bit and the time for the new generation is now.”

Mr O’Connor said it was time he spent more of it at home with his daughter Una, as he thanked colleagues and reflected on his decades as a parliamentarian.

“If she wasn’t so resilient and remarkable, I would have left the place long ago,” he said.

The decision was also to ensure “I could provide opportunities for capable and energetic members of our government that could step up” ahead of the next election, he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lauded the achievement of both his cabinet colleagues. 

“We’ll always be grateful for the extraordinary example which these two fine Australians give of why people should enter public life to make a difference,” he said.

A new ministry will be announced in Canberra on Sunday and sworn in on Monday.

There is widespread speculation Andrew Giles will be sacked as immigration minister, after coming under fire for his handling of a High Court case that led to the release of more than 150 immigration detainees.

This post was originally published on Michael West.