Julie Bishop is enjoying a new relationship, two years after her eight-year romance with David Panton came to an end.
The former foreign minister, 67, is dating Perth man Stephen Gray and they appear to have been together for several months.
She has shared images of Mr Gray on social media, and first debuted him on Instagram back in July 2023.
Ms Bishop’s name and ‘partner’ Steve Gray appeared together on the guest list for the Australian Grand Prix’s Glamour on the Grid event on Wednesday evening.
However, the former deputy Liberal Party leader has clarified she will not be attending and will instead be back in her home town of Perth.
Julie Bishop is enjoying a new relationship with Perth man Stephen Gray, two years after her eight-year romance with David Panton came to an end
The couple recently travelled to South Australia for a ‘fabulous outback adventure’.
In a video shared to her Instagram account, Ms Bishop put together a montage of images and clips from their outback holiday and tagged Mr Gray.
One short video showed the couple posing together beside a small aircraft.
‘Great Southern Land. Thank you @quondong_oakbank_stations for our fabulous outback adventure – 350ks from Adelaide on a 1477sq kms Merino station,’ she captioned her post.
Little is known about Mr Gray, whose Instagram account is private with only 60 close-knit followers.
She has shared images of Mr Gray on social media, and first debuted him on Instagram back in July 2023
The pair have wined and dined together among friends. Pictured in December 2023
The news of her new romance comes almost two years after Mr Panton, 62, allegedly dumped Ms Bishop over dinner in Sydney in July 2022, putting an end to their eight-year relationship.
During their partnership, Ms Bishop took Mr Panton to the United Nations to meet world leaders, Buckingham Palace to hobnob with British royalty and to the White House where he met Donald and Melania Trump.
The pair first stepped out publicly in 2014, and were pictured at countless celebrity events over the years including the 2018 wedding of Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough.
They had appeared to be going strong when they recently visited St James’ Palace in London for an event honouring Prince Charles’ charity.
Ms Bishop was understood to have been ‘blindsided’ by the sudden breakdown of her relationship, sources close to the former politician said.
The news of Ms Bishop’s new romance comes just shy of two years after Mr Panton allegedly dumped her over dinner in Sydney in July 2022, putting an end to their eight-year relationship
Daily Mail Australia understands she had been finding more ways to be in Sydney with Mr Panton.
Ms Bishop emerged for the first time since the split smiling happily for photos at a Perth mining conference on July 11, although insiders said she was hurting in the wake of the bust-up and was shocked at the way he’d pulled the pin so suddenly.
Another source close to Ms Bishop was slightly less diplomatic about the sudden end to the affair, hinting that Mr Panton’s presence in her inner circle ‘divided’ some of her friends and colleagues.
But ‘JBish’, as she was referred to in Canberra, remained smitten.
‘Let’s just say a there are a few who might be relieved that it’s over,’ said one, adding: ‘His personality didn’t always gel with everyone.’
Mr Panton met Ms Bishop while she was in the midst of her political career, serving as Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The pair maintained a long-distance relationship for years, with Ms Bishop based in Perth while he lived in Sydney.
Mr Panton has now moved on with 39-year-old Genevieve Anderson.
Ms Bishop was understood to have been ‘blindsided’ by the sudden breakdown of her relationship, sources close to the former politician said
