Judge me on performance not gender: Payne

She teared up when paying tribute to her father, a veteran of the second world war, who she described as her inspiration. Her father served in New Guinea during WWII.

“But if, as a female Defence Minister and Australia’s first female Defence Minister, I can encourage – or that appointment encourages – one extra young woman in this nation to consider a career in defence, to consider a career in politics, or encourages one woman now serving in the ADF or part of the defence public service in what they are doing, I think that is an absolutely fabulous thing”.

Leadership turmoil and defence scandals have taken their toll on the post since 2007.

“I have no intention of walking away from politics any time soon…that should be an important message for defence, that this is the commitment this government gives and I have every intention of backing it up”, 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.

Italy’s Roberta Pinotti, also a senator, has been in the job since 2014 and previously worked to reform her country’s military criminal code. “I think that has shifted approaches to engaging on these issues, to dealing with these issues on an global basis, not just domestically”, she said. “As to its affect on the white paper…this is a matter that will come in due course”, she said.

Before being ousted from the job Kevin Andrews was overseeing the Defence White Paper, a crucial document being prepared to spell out Australia’s long term Defence capability.

Asked whether the government would continue to warn Australians about the threat posed by Islamic State/Daesh as Mr Abbott had done, Senator Payne said she did not believe the “magnitude of the threat should be underestimated”.

She also mentioned she met with USA ambassador to Australia John Berry alongside Mr Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday.

“There is absolutely no doubt that there are individuals, leaders in that organisation who are intent upon disrupting western democracies and their ways of life”, she said.

Senator Payne declined to be drawn on the fate of Australia’s $50 billion new submarine project which is being fiercely contested by the Japanese, French and Germans.

Senator Payne’s appointment has been widely welcomed within the defence community.

“All I ask is that I am judged on my performance, not on my gender”, she told reporters in Canberra as she rose to the podium for her first media conference in the senior role.

Payne even revealed plans of attending the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultation, to be held in the U.S in two weeks, and visiting Indonesia.

But Senator Payne acknowledged her gender because she wanted to explicitly put on record that it was not the marker she wishes to be judged by.

Defence has been a revolving door portfolio over the past five years and badly needs stability as it sets about reforming a bureaucratic procurement pipeline, said Andrew Davies, director of research at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.