After eight years together, former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and her partner Sydney property developer David Panton called time on their relationship in early July 2022.
“I’m going to be focused on living in Manly and Melbourne for the foreseeable future,” David said in a statement. “I wish Julie all the best in her ongoing stellar career.”
The couple’s unexpected break up came just a week after they visited London together and dined with Prince Charles.
Julie met David when she was in the thick of her political career as Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. Finding time for a brand-new relationship would have no doubt been difficult, but still, they made it work for nearly a decade.
The pair are believed to have begun dating around 2014, when they were first seen in public together.
Sparks flew over a shared love of fitness and keeping healthy – Julie is known to be a keen runner, and David is a swimmer.
Now in his late 50s, David originally reigned from Melbourne and is an entrepreneur. But that’s not where his colourful past ends.
The stylish duo announced their breakup in July 2022.
(Image: Getty)He also ran a vineyard in Melbourne with his now ex-wife Karen. He also previously owned a pharmacy business in the Mornington Peninsula.
After moving to Sydney in 2014, around the same time it’s understood he met Julie, he worked as a property developer.
Speaking of David in a 2019 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Julie explained why she hadn’t decided to relocate to New South Wales’ Manly, where David resides, nor why David hadn’t moved to Perth, where Julie is based.
“[David and I] meet constantly, travel together and travel overseas to keep it fresh,” she said in the interview.
She also added: “I think long-distance relationships can be a lot of fun.”
Julie met David when she was in the thick of her political career as Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.
(Image: Getty)The pair were first pictured together at the 2014 Melbourne Cup – quite the place to make a couples’ debut.
Then in 2015, he accompanied Julie to New York where he sat with her while she worked at the UN Headquarters.
In recent years, the pair attended various A-List events together, both on the east and west coast of Australia – but of course, there was a small bump in the road curing the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 when Julie was separated from her partner for several months.
At the time, Julie told The Daily Telegraph that FaceTime became their go-to: “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.”
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