JULIE Bishop has dubbed Boris Johnson “a great friend to Australia” after the British Foreign Secretary’s shock resignation.

Mr Johnson is the second British minister to resign over Prime Minister Theresa May’s “soft” Brexit proposal, which is now threatening to tear her government apart.

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister signalled concerns today that Britain could have less of a focus on the Pacific region under new British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as she praised his predecessor.

Britain and France have both agreed to increase their focus on the region in recent months amid growing concerns in Australia about China’s development aid and influence push into the Pacific.

Ms Bishop refused to comment directly today on speculation Mr Johnson’s departure could be the beginning of the end for the May Government but said there were “some challenging times ahead” over Brexit.

“Boris Johnson is a great friend to Australia,” she told reporters in Canberra this morning.

“He was reshaping Britain’s foreign policy including in relation to deeper engagement in the Pacific, announcing more UK posts in our part of the world.

“We will miss Boris in his role as Foreign Secretary.”

Ms Bishop said the pair had developed a “very close personal rapport” and a “a strong friendship” while working closely on regional and global challenges.

She added she hoped Australia could continue its discussions with the UK regarding a free-trade agreement.

“I am looking forward to talking to the new Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as soon as possible about some of the initiatives that we achieved with Secretary Johnson and what continuity there will be,” she said.

“He will of course want to put his own stamp on Britain’s foreign policy, but we have achieved much together over a number of years.

“I have been Foreign Minister of Australia for five years. There have been a number of British Foreign Secretaries in that time and there is always a close and deep engagement between Australia and the UK. We are close friends. We are close allies. We are very strong trading partners.”

Mr Johnson, one of the best-known and most flamboyant members of the UK government, quit overnight just hours after the resignation late on Sunday of Brexit Secretary David Davis, the government’s top Brexit official.

Mr Davis said he could not support Mrs May’s plan to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU, which he said gave “too much away, too easily”.

There was no immediate statement from Mr Johnson, another loud pro-Brexit voice within Mrs May’s divided government.

Mr Hunt, who had been the health secretary, is considered one of Mrs May’s most loyal ministers.

Mr Hunt, who backed the “remain” side in Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum, favours keeping close economic ties to the bloc after the UK leaves next year.

If Mr Davis’s resignation rattled Mrs May, Mr Johnson’s shook the foundations of her government.

The resignations came just days after Mrs May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind her plan for a divorce deal with the EU. Less than nine months remain until Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, and the EU has warned Britain repeatedly that time is running out to seal a divorce deal.

Britain and the EU hope to reach broad agreement by October so that EU national parliaments can ratify a deal before Britain leaves. That timetable looks increasingly optimistic, but European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the EU was available “available 24/7.”

Ms Schinas said the bloc “will continue to negotiate in good will, bona fide, with Mrs May and the UK government negotiators in order to reach a deal”.

Steve Baker, a junior Brexit minister also resigned. Mrs May appointed staunchly pro-Brexit politician Dominic Raab as the country’s new Brexit secretary. Before Mr Johnson quit, Mrs May’s official spokesman, James Slack, said Britain wanted to “move forward at pace” in the negotiations.

“There is now a new secretary of state and we look forward to moving on,” he said.

During a 12-hour meeting on Friday, May’s fractious Cabinet — including Mr Davis — finally agreed on a plan for future trade ties with the EU.

The plan seeks to keep the UK and the EU in a free-trade zone for goods, and commits Britain to maintaining the same rules as the bloc for goods and agricultural products.

Some Brexit-supporting politicians are angry at the proposals, saying they will keep Britain tethered to the bloc and unable to change its rules to strike new trade deals around the world.

In a resignation letter, Mr Davis said the “‘common rule book’ policy hands control of large swathes of our economy to the EU and is certainly not returning control of our laws in any real sense”.

Mr Davis also said that Mrs May’s plan “would be a risk at least of delivering a poor outcome”.

His departure was hailed by pro-Brexit Conservative politicians, who have long considered Mrs May too prone to compromise with the EU. They believe the proposals breach several of the “red lines” the government has set out, including a commitment to leave the bloc’s tariff-free customs union.

Some euroskeptic politicians dream of replacing Mrs May with a staunch Brexiteer, such as Mr Johnson, who in the past has disagreed publicly with his boss. Mr Davis said he did not want his resignation to become a rallying cry for May’s ouster.

“I like Theresa May, I think she’s a good prime minister,” Mr Davis said.

Davis did not urge other ministers to resign, saying he was in a unique position because the Brexit secretary’s job is to sell the government’s policy. “I’d have to deliver this. I’d have to do something I didn’t believe in,” he told the BBC. “That’s not a tenable position. … Others don’t have that same responsibility.” Under Conservative Party rules, a confidence vote in a leader can be triggered if 48 Conservative politicians request one.

But leading pro-Brexit legislator Jacob Rees-Mogg said “I don’t think a no-confidence vote is immediately in the offing.”

He urged Mrs May to abandon her plans and take a tougher line with Brussels.

“Friday’s announcement was turning red lines into a white flag, and David Davis has made that so clear in his resignation letter,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.