Australia's first female defence minister is the proud daughter of a WWII veteran who brings absolute passion to her new job.
Fronting the media in Canberra for the first time, Marise Payne said she plans to be around for the long haul.
"All I ask is that I am judged on my performance, not on my gender," she told reporters.
But if her appointment encouraged one more young woman to consider a career in defence or politics, that would be fabulous, she said.
Her father served in New Guinea during WWII.
"I could not be prouder to stand here today in that capacity if no other. My father was my inspiration," she said.
She outlined her defence credentials, citing her experience as a long-standing member of parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee which included visits to hot-spots in East Timor, the Middle East and Afghanistan.
More travel is ahead.
She will attend the annual Australia-US ministerial meeting in the US next month and there are plans to visit Indonesia as well as Australian troops in Iraq.
Before then there are more briefings, a process started on Monday with defence force chief Mark Binskin and Defence Department secretary Dennis Richardson.
Senator Payne also joined Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for a meeting with US Ambassador John Berry.
"Briefings will continue over the next four days but I won't announce new or changed priorities in the first 24-hours of a ministerial role," she said.
However, the minister backed a comment by Mr Turnbull that China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea were counter-productive.
"His remarks were very considered - I would have no difference with those remarks," she said.
Senator Payne made it clear there were some places she wouldn't go, such as opinion polls and who would build the next submarine fleet.
Neither would she talk about topics on which she hasn't been fully briefed, including the Syria mission and the upcoming Defence white paper.
The defence budget and the coalition's promise to lift funding to two per cent of GDP is also a briefing subject for later this week.
Senator Payne suspects more needs to be done to reform the defence culture, vowing to play a strong role in supporting Defence leadership.
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