A week after their London trip, during which they dined with Prince Charles, Julie Bishop and David Panton called their eight-year relationship off.
The former foreign minister and the developer first appeared in public together in 2014. Since then, they have been seen together at a variety of occasions, including Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough’s wedding in 2018.
According to Nine newspapers’ CBD gossip section, the couple went out to dinner on Friday night in Sydney’s central business district, where Mr. Panton concluded the relationship had reached its conclusion.
‘I’m going to be focused on living in Manly and Melbourne for the foreseeable future,’ Mr Panton told the publication.
‘I wish Julie all the best in her ongoing stellar career.’
When they recently went to St. James’ Palace in London for a celebration of Prince Charles’ charity, the couple seemed to be doing well.
Ms. Bishop, 65, and Mr. Panton, 61, first met when she was working as Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Years of their romance were spent apart, with Ms. Bishop residing in Perth and him in Sydney.
When Mr. Panton, a native of Melbourne, relocated to the Harbour City in 2014—around the time he met Ms. Bishop—he left behind his former roles as co-owner of a pharmacy and co-manager of a vineyard.
Ms. Bishop revealed to the SMH in 2019 how she connected with the real estate entrepreneur through their shared passion for fitness and health.
‘I think that’s self-evident – have you seen him?’ she laughed.
‘He’s a swimmer, I’m a runner.’
‘He’s a very independent-minded and successful businessman, and he has a delightful sense of humour. He makes me laugh.’
Mr Paton was often by her side as she travelled the world as the foreign minister, and the relationship remained strong despite being separated for seven months during Covid.
Ms Bishop also explained why the pair had not decided to relocate to each other’s respective cities.
‘[David and I] meet constantly, travel together and travel overseas to keep it fresh,’ she said in the interview.
‘I think long-distance relationships can be a lot of fun.’
At the time, Ms Bishop said she was thankful for FaceTime.
‘It isn’t great, but it is all you can do because he can’t get in here [WA], and I can’t go there without having to get an exemption. It is very difficult but I know a lot of families have been separated in this way, it is challenging,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
The couple were first pictured together at the 2014 Melbourne Cup before stepping into the spotlight the following year in New York while Ms Bishop worked at the UN Headquarters.
Ms Bishop was previously married to Neil Gillon from 1983 to 1988.
She was later dating former Lord Mayor of Perth Peter Nattrass for at least 12 years.
Ms Bishop had earlier opened up in an interview with Kidspot about her desire to have children, but how the opportunity never arose.
The deputy Liberal leader, who had a successful career as a lawyer before entering politics, held four ministerial positions, represented Australia on the UN security council and attended Harvard Business School for a course in advanced management.
She says that looking back over her career, she feels she didn’t miss out.
‘The window closes pretty quickly at 40. So politics is pretty much my life,’ she said.
‘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.
‘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.
‘It can be challenging either way.’
In 2015 she was asked by an audience member on Q&A if her ability to pursue a successful career as Foreign Minister would have been compromised if she had children.
‘Well, I don’t have children and so I have been able to pursue the role of Foreign Minister without that responsibility,’ she said.
‘But I’m not suggesting for a moment that a woman with children couldn’t be Australia’s Foreign Minister. But it is an extremely demanding role, because it takes you overseas at a moment’s notice.
‘We’ve had plenty of Foreign Ministers who have been males with children.’
The director of Pantonic Health, a significant supplier of Covid rapid antigen tests, is Mr. Panton.
He operates the company together with his daughters Sally and Laura.
The company provided tests for the Howard Springs Quarantine Station in Darwin, the Fortescue Metals Group owned by Twiggy Forrest, and Commonwealth Bank.