Christian Porter's exit from federal politics was both inevitable and protracted.
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Two key body blows dogged the former-attorney general and made battle with Labor's candidate for the West Australian seat of Pearce politically unpalatable.
"There are few, if any, constants left in modern politics," Mr Porter said in an 800-plus word Facebook post announcing his resignation on the second-last sitting day of the year.
"Perhaps the only certainty now is that there appears to be no limit to what some will say or allege or do to gain an advantage over a perceived enemy."
The 51-year-old's parliamentary number was essentially up after the ABC published an explosive story in February about a historical rape allegation against an unnamed cabinet minister.
Mr Porter outed himself as the man accused of raping the 16-year-old girl during a 1988 debating trip when he was 17.
The MP strenuously denied the allegation and launched defamation action against the ABC, which he later settled.
Mr Porter had been in charge of overhauling Australia's defamation laws to better protect public interest journalism.
The man once considered a future prime minister was subsequently demoted from attorney-general to industry minister.
The admission in September that anonymous donors paid part of Mr Porter's legal fees sealed his parliamentary fate.
Rather than expose to the "social media mob" those who contributed to what he described as a blind trust, Mr Porter quit as minister.
He last month refuted fevered speculation he would not recontest his seat at the federal election, due by May 2022, before confirming the news on Wednesday.
"After a long time giving everything I could to the people of Pearce, it's now time to give more of what is left to those around me whose love has been unconditional," Mr Porter said.
After graduating from the University of Western Australia, Mr Porter was nominated for Cleo magazine's Bachelor of the Year in 1999.
He was a lawyer and law lecturer before entering West Australian state politics in 2008.
His father, Charles 'Chilla' Porter, captivated the nation when he claimed silver for high jumping at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and went on to be the Liberal Party director in WA.
The younger Porter became treasurer and attorney-general and was touted as a future premier before making the jump to the federal seat of Pearce in 2013.
He rose through the ranks from the prime minister's parliamentary secretary to social services minister and then attorney-general.
Last year, he came under fire from the ABC's Four Corners program for making demeaning remarks about women during his university days.
It prompted the then attorney-general to apologise for material he wrote in a law school magazine 24 years prior.
Australian Associated Press
