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Julia Gillard

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The Honourable
Julia Gillard

BA, LLB (Melb), MP
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 December 2007
Prime MinisterKevin Rudd
Preceded byMark Vaile
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Division of Lalor
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 October 1998
Preceded byBarry Jones
Personal details
Born (1961-09-29) 29 September 1961 (age 63)
Barry, Wales, UK
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Residence(s)Altona, Victoria[1]
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne, University of Adelaide
OccupationPolitician

Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian politician and the current Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, the fourteenth person and the first woman to hold this position. She is also the deputy leader of the federal Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Gillard has been an ALP member of the House of Representatives since the 1998 federal election. She represents the Division of Lalor in Victoria. She was elected unopposed as deputy leader on 4 December 2006 and became the Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and the Shadow Minister for Social Inclusion on 10 December 2006.[2]

Following Labor's victory in the 2007 Federal Election, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that Gillard would serve as the Minister for Education, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and also the Minister for Social Inclusion.[3] She is the first woman - and the first foreign-born person - to hold the position of Deputy Prime Minister. She was the highest ranking Australian female in the history of the Australian government. On 11 December 2007[4] she became the first woman in Australia's history to be in the Prime Ministerial role, by assuming the role of Acting Prime Minister while Kevin Rudd attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. [5]

Early life

Gillard was born in Barry, Wales in 1961.[6] In 1966, she migrated to Australia with her family, settling in Adelaide.

Gillard attended Unley High School, graduating in 1978.[7] She then attended the University of Adelaide but later moved to Melbourne. In 1986 she graduated from the University of Melbourne with arts and law degrees and, the following year, joined the law firm Slater & Gordon at Werribee, working in the area of industrial law.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). In 1990 she was admitted as one of their first female partners.

Political provenance

In 1983, Gillard became the second woman to lead the Australian Union of Students.[8] Gillard was also formerly the secretary of the left wing organisation, the Socialist Forum.[9]

From 1996 to 1998, Gillard served as Chief-of-Staff to Victorian Opposition Leader, John Brumby.[6] She was responsible for drafting the affirmative action rules within the Labor Party in Victoria, setting the target of women being preselected in 35 percent of winnable seats within a decade. She also played a role in the foundation of EMILY's List, the fund-raising and support network for Labor women.

Opposition Member

Gillard was elected as Member for Lalor to the House of Representatives at the 1998 election. Her first speech to the house was made on 11 November 1998.[10]

Shadow Minister for Population and Immigration (2001–03)

After Labor's defeat at the 2001 election, Gillard was elected to the Shadow Cabinet with the portfolio of Population and Immigration. In February 2003 she was given the additional portfolios of Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs.

In the wake of the Tampa affair and Children Overboard affairs, which were partly credited with Labor's 2001 election loss, Gillard developed a new immigration policy for the Labor Party.

Shadow Minister for Health (2003–06)

Gillard was promoted to the position of Shadow Health Minister in July 2003. Shortly after this the government moved the then Workplace Relations Minister, Tony Abbott, into the health portfolio. The rivalry between Abbott and Gillard often attracted the attention from the media. Additionally, she gained responsibility for managing opposition business in the House of Representatives.

In the aftermath of the Labor loss at the October 2004 election, it was speculated that Gillard might challenge Jenny Macklin for the deputy leadership, but she did not do so.

Gillard has been touted as a potential future leader of the party for some years but, until 2005, she stayed out of leadership contests. After Latham resigned as leader in January 2005, however, she emerged as a possible successor along with Kim Beazley and Kevin Rudd.

After appearing on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Australian Story program in March 2006[11][12], an Ipsos Mackay poll in April 2006, conducted for the Ten Network's Meet the Press program, found that respondents would prefer Gillard to be Labor leader. She polled 32% compared to Beazley's 25% and Kevin Rudd's 18%.[13].

Although she had significant cross-factional support on 25 January 2005 she announced that she would not be contesting the leadership, allowing Beazley to be elected unopposed.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition

Julia Gillard at her first press conference as Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party, 4 December 2006, with new Leader Kevin Rudd

On 1 December 2006, in a cross factional political partnership with Kevin Rudd, Gillard launched a challenge for the deputy leadership of the ALP. Once Kevin Rudd was elected as leader the incumbent deputy leader and Kim Beazley's deputy, Jenny Macklin, did not contest the challenge and on 4 December 2006 Gillard was elected unopposed. In the frontbench reshuffle following the leadership change Gillard was elected to take the Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio.

Deputy Prime Minister

The Labor Party won the 2007 federal election and on 3 December 2007 Gillard was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister. She is Australia's first female and first foreign-born Deputy Prime Minister and also the highest ranked female politician in Australian history.

In addition to the Deputy Prime Ministership, Gillard was given responsibility for a so-called 'Super Ministry', the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. However she has three distinct portfolios: Minister for Education; Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; and Minister for Social Inclusion. Performing her role as Minister for Education, Gillard recently travelled to Washington in America where she signed a deal with American Education Secretary Arne Duncan to nurture improved policy collaboration in regards to education reform between both countries.[14]

On 11 December 2007[4] she became the first woman in Australia's history to be in the Prime Ministerial role, by assuming the role of Acting Prime Minister while Kevin Rudd attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. In the first year of government, she served as Acting Prime Minister for 69 days[15] during Rudd's overseas travel engagements.

Gillard is a highly regarded debater and her performances during parliamentary question time have prompted some to call her the best parliamentary performer in the government.[16]

Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Gillard removed the WorkChoices industrial relations regime introduced by the Howard government, and replaced it with the Fair Work Bill[17]. This established a single industrial relations bureaucracy called Fair Work Australia.[18]

In 2009 Gillard oversaw the government's "Building the Education Revolution" program, which allocated $16 billion to build new assembly halls for schools. Some schools received funding, despite being shut down soon after.[19][20][21][22]

Personal life

Gillard's partner is hairdresser Tim Mathieson, and she has no children. [23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Forget Canberra, Altona has become the new heart of the nation". 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  2. ^ Following the 2007 Australian federal election she became Australia's first female Deputy Prime Minister. "Shadow Ministry" (PDF). 2006-12-10. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  3. ^ Australian Labor Party: A Ministry to Meet Australia's Future Challenges
  4. ^ a b Radio Australia - News - Julia Gillard becomes Australia's first female acting PM
  5. ^ "Gillard becomes acting leader". 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  6. ^ a b "Ms Julia Gillard MP, Member for Labor (Vic)". Australian House of Representatives. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  7. ^ Gillard addresses students at former high school
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ Julia Gillard's history as a radical student activist | NEWS.com.au
  10. ^ "Ms Julia Gillard MP, Member for Labor (Vic), First Speech To Parliament". Australian House of Representatives. 1998-11-11. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  11. ^ "Julia Gillard Interview Transcript". Australian Story. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 March 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  12. ^ "The Gillard Diaries". Australian Story. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 March 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  13. ^ "Julia Gillard preferred ALP leader: poll". The Age. 2 April 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  14. ^ "Ms Gillard Goes to Washington". The Age. Fairfax. 2009-10-19. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  15. ^ Business as usual for Gillard the caretaker
  16. ^ Shorten pathway to a Gillard future
  17. ^ WorkChoices finally dead: Julia Gillard
  18. ^ "PM promises not to extend Work Choices". The Age. Fairfax. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
  19. ^ [2]
  20. ^ [3]
  21. ^ [4]
  22. ^ [5]
  23. ^ "Gillard defends childlessness". The Australian. 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
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