Former Federal Speaker Anna Burke is to leave politics. In a statement released to the media on Wednesday, the Labor MP, who has held the Victorian seat of Chisholm for 17 years, said she could no longer guarantee “to give the job 100 per cent”.

“I’m leaving because you have to go sometime and I want to go before I resent doing a job I love and no longer cherish every moment in my electorate,” she said.

Ms Burke described serving the people of Chisholm as a “complete joy and honour”, adding that engaging with the local and ethnically-diverse community was what she thrived on.

Labor currently holds the east Melbourne seat by a margin of less than two per cent. The former speaker, who served from October 2012 until August 2013 following Peter Slipper’s resignation, said she would help the next Labor candidate campaign in the seat.

“The seat of Chisholm is not mine … it belongs to the people who call the suburbs of Chisholm home and they have been very gracious to elect me six times to represent them in parliament,” she said.

Chisholm had a swing of 4.2 per cent to the Liberals at the October 2013 election and is seen by many as a winnable seat for the Coalition under the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull.

Ms Burke said she had mixed emotions about bringing the curtain down on her political career and had made the decision, not because she was shirking the prospect of facing the re-invigorated Malcolm Turnbull-led Coalition, but because she wanted to spend more time with her family.

“Maddie and John are no longer young, and I hope I have not sacrificed my family for my job,” she said.

In her statement, Ms Burke described Malcolm Turnbull as “Abbott in a better suit and with a better turn of phrase”, but a prime minister who was “letting the country down by not abandoning the policies of the Abbott era”.

Senior ALP figures have paid tribute to Ms Burke. Senator Penny Wong described her as “a fearless and principled advocate of the Labor cause”.

Tanya Plibersek said Ms Burke’s departure from the political scene would be “a sad loss to the people of Chisholm and in parliament”.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called Ms Burke a “tireless advocate for the rights of asylum seekers”.

“In an often fractious and contested parliament, Anna was a skillful, impartial and patient speaker, becoming only the second woman to hold the position in the history of federation,” he said.

“Anna has served the people of Chisholm, our party and Australia with absolute distinction.”