Prime Minister Scott Morrison has added a record seventh woman to his cabinet after two senior Liberals announced they will leave parliament at the May federal election.
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne announced on Saturday he will quit after 26 years in parliament, while Defence Industry Minister Steve Ciobo will go after 17 years.
"In both of their cases, of course, if they wished to continue I would have welcomed that," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Saturday.
"The personalities will change from time to time. But it is what you are doing that matters."
Emergency Management Minister Linda Reynolds has been promoted to Mr Ciobo's role, and she will replace Mr Pyne as defence minister if the coalition wins the next election.
Senator Reynolds' elevation makes her the seventh woman in Mr Morrison's cabinet, overtaking the record of six women under the Rudd and Turnbull governments.
"To every woman in the Liberal Party today ... you don't need to be a quota. If you are good enough, you can get in," Senator Reynolds told reporters.
Mr Pyne said he wanted to retire when people were asking him to stay, rather than trying to get rid of him.
"I'm not leaving with regret or bitterness, nor have I been forced out of office in some hideous scandal," he told reporters in Adelaide.
"I'm not going into the tomb, I intend to be around in politics, in South Australia in particular, for a long time to come."
Mr Ciobo said he did not have a job lined up, but it was time to leave parliament after 17 years, three of which he spent on the road as trade minister.
"Federal politics is anti family, full stop. Don't let anyone ever pretend otherwise," he told Sky News.
