Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard | |
---|---|
![]() | |
27th Prime Minister of Australia | |
Assumed office 24 June 2010 | |
Deputy | Wayne Swan |
Preceded by | Kevin Rudd |
Leader of the Labor Party | |
Assumed office 24 June 2010 | |
Deputy | Wayne Swan |
Preceded by | Kevin Rudd |
13th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia | |
In office 3 December 2007 – 24 June 2010 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Mark Vaile |
Succeeded by | Wayne Swan |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Lalor | |
Assumed office 3 October 1998 | |
Preceded by | Barry Jones |
Personal details | |
Born | Barry, Wales, UK | 29 September 1961
Political party | Australian Labor Party |
Domestic partner | Tim Mathieson |
Residence | Altona, Victoria[1] |
Website | Prime Minister's website Parliamentary website ALP website |
Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia. Born in Wales, Gillard migrated to Adelaide, South Australia with her family as a child. She became involved in Labor student politics in Adelaide and then Melbourne, and worked as an industrial lawyer with a law firm. After serving as Chief of Staff to Victorian opposition leader John Brumby, she was elected Member for Lalor in the House of Representatives at the 1998 election.
After Labor was defeated in the 2001 election, Gillard was elected to the shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister for Population and Immigration, with the portfolios of Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs added to her responsibilities in 2003. In July 2003 she was promoted to Shadow Health Minister, and in December 2006, after forming a cross-factional partnership with Kevin Rudd that saw him elected to Leader of the Opposition, Gillard was elected Deputy Leader of the Opposition.[3]
Gillard became the Deputy Prime Minister following Labor's victory in the 2007 federal election, also serving as Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. On 24 June 2010, after Kevin Rudd stood aside, Gillard became federal leader of the Australian Labor Party and thus the Prime Minister.[4] She is the first female Prime Minister of Australia and the first never to have married.[5]
Gillard announced on 17 July 2010 that the next federal election would be held on 21 August 2010.[6]
Political provenance
Introduced to politics in her second year at the University of Adelaide by the daughter of a State Labor Minister, she joined the Labor Club and became involved in a campaign to fight federal education budget cuts.[7][8]
After moving to Melbourne, in 1983 Gillard became the second woman to lead the Australian Union of Students. Gillard was also formerly the secretary of the left-wing organisation, Socialist Forum.[9]
From 1996 to 1998, Gillard served as Chief of Staff to John Brumby, at that time the Victorian opposition leader.[3] She was responsible for drafting the affirmative action rules within the Labor Party in Victoria that set the target of preselecting women for 35 per cent of 'winnable seats'.[10][11] She also played a role in the foundation of EMILY's List, the pro-choice fund-raising and support network for Labor women.[12]
Opposition member
Gillard was elected as Member for Lalor in the House of Representatives at the 1998 election, replacing Barry Jones, who had retired. She made her first speech to the house on 11 November 1998.[13]
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.[14]
In the wake of the Tampa and Children Overboard affairs, which were partly credited with Labor's 2001 election loss, Gillard developed a new immigration policy for the Labor Party.[11]
Shadow Minister for Health: 2003–06
Gillard was promoted to the position of Shadow Health Minister in July 2003.[15] Shortly after this, the government moved Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott to the health portfolio.[16] The rivalry between Abbott and Gillard often attracted attention from the media. She gained additional responsibility for managing opposition business in the House of Representatives.[17]
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.[18]
Gillard had been spoken of as a potential future leader of the party for some years but, until 2005, she stayed out of leadership contests. After Mark 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 ABC's Australian Story program in March 2006,[7][19] an Ipsos Mackay poll in April 2006, conducted for Network Ten's Meet the Press program, found that respondents would prefer Gillard to be Labor leader. She polled 32% compared with Beazley's 25% and Kevin Rudd's 18%.[20]
Although she had significant cross-factional support, she announced on 25 January 2005 that she would not contest the leadership, allowing Beazley to be elected unopposed.[21]
Deputy leader of the opposition
On 1 December 2006, in a cross-factional political partnership with Kevin Rudd, Gillard launched a challenge for the deputy leadership of the ALP.[22] Once Rudd was elected as leader, the incumbent deputy leader and Kim Beazley's deputy, Jenny Macklin, chose not to contest the position and on 4 December 2006 she was elected unopposed.[23] In the frontbench reshuffle following the leadership change, Gillard was allocated the Employment, Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion portfolios.[24]
Deputy Prime Minister: 2007–10
The Labor Party won the 2007 federal election and, on 3 December 2007, Gillard was sworn in as the first female Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.[25]
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. She had three distinct portfolios: Minister for Education; Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; and Minister for Social Inclusion. In her role as Minister for Education, Gillard travelled to Washington, DC, where she signed a deal with the US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, to enourage improved policy collaboration in education reform between both countries.[26]
On 11 December 2007 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.[27] In the first year of government, she served as acting prime minister for 69 days during Rudd's overseas travel engagements.[28]
Gillard is a highly regarded debater, and her performances during parliamentary question time have prompted Peter van Onselen to call her "the best parliamentary performer on the Labor side".[29]
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.[30] This established a single industrial relations bureaucracy called Fair Work Australia.[31]
In 2009 Gillard oversaw the government's "Building the Education Revolution" program, which allocated AU$16 billion to build new school accommodation including classrooms, libraries and assembly halls.[32][33]
Prime Minister
On 23 June 2010, after meetings throughout the evening between Gillard and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, as well as factional leaders, Rudd addressed the waiting media at 10:30 pm AEST and announced that Gillard had asked him to hold a leadership ballot in the 115-member caucus the following day to determine the leadership of the Labor Party and hence the prime ministership of Australia.[34]
Rudd initially said he would challenge Gillard at the caucus. However, hours before the vote, he stood aside as leader when it became apparent that he did not have enough support to overcome Gillard. She thus won the election unopposed. At the same caucus meeting, Treasurer Wayne Swan was elected unopposed to succeed Gillard as Labor's deputy leader, and hence Deputy Prime Minister.[35]
Shortly afterward, Gillard was sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia by the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, and Wayne Swan was sworn in as her deputy.
Later that day, in her first press conference as Prime Minister, she said that at times the Rudd Government "went off the tracks", and "I came to the view that a good Government was losing its way".[36]
As well as being the first woman and the first who has never been married, it is the first time since the Prime Ministership of Billy Hughes (1915–1923) that a Prime Minister was born overseas.[35]
In the aftermath of the leadership challenge, Bill Shorten, former trade union leader, and key Parliamentary member of the ALP Right Faction, nominated the government's handling of the insulation program; the sudden announcement of change of policy on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme; and the way in which they had "introduced the debate" about the Resource Super Profits Tax as the key considerations which had led to a a shift in support from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard as leader of the party.[37]
Afghan War
During her first day as Prime Minister, she reassured President Obama, giving him Australia's continuing support for the military campaign in Afghanistan.[38]
Election 2010
On July 17, Prime Minister Gillard called for an election to be held on August 21.[39]
Domestic policies
Immigration
Gillard has taken a tougher stance on asylum seekers, with plans of establishing a process centre to be possibly located in East Timor.[40] Although East Timor's parliament has voted down the plan, East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta, has said that he is open to the idea for a process centre.
Bildung
When she became Prime Minister, she gave her Education portfolio to Simon Crean. She has promised to “make education central to my economic agenda.”[41] She has also made a promise if re-elected, she is offering to extend tax-cuts to parents to help pay for school uniforms to people struggling to cover the costs of education.[42]
Political positions
Although nominally a member of the Victorian Left faction of the Labor Party,[43] her election to Prime Minister occurred because of support from the Right factions of the party, with the hard Left planning to support Rudd in the Caucus vote had there actually been one.[44] Analyses of Jacqueline Kent's 2009 biography of Gillard suggest that her membership in the Left faction is "more organisational than ideological".[45][43] In July 2010, historian Ross Fitzgerald said, "... at least since last year Gillard has sought to reposition herself more towards the Labor Right."[46]
On population policy, Gillard is against a "big Australia", as opposed to predecessor Kevin Rudd who was in favour of population growth.[47] She emphasises the need for sustainability, saying "Australia should not hurtle down the track towards a big population".[47][48]
Gillard has expressed a pro-choice position on abortion saying that "Women without money would be left without that choice or in the hands of backyard abortion providers" and that she understood "the various moral positions" regarding abortions.[49]
Gillard has made clear she does not support the legalisation of gay marriage,[50] saying that she believes "the marriage act is appropriate in its current form, that is recognising that marriage is between a man and a woman".
Personal life and views
Gillard's partner since 2006[5] is Tim Mathieson.[51] She had previous relationships with union officials Michael O'Connor and Bruce Wilson and fellow Federal Labor MP Craig Emerson.[52] She has never married and has had no children.[53]
Gillard was brought up in the Baptist tradition, but is not religious. In a 2010 interview when asked if she believed in God, Gillard stated: "No I don't ... I'm not a religious person ... [I'm] a great respecter of religious beliefs but they're not my beliefs."[2][54]
She lives in the south western Melbourne suburb of Altona[1] and is a public supporter of the Western Bulldogs Australian football club.[55]
See also
References
- ^ a b Wright, Tony (2 January 2008). "Forget Canberra, Altona has become the new heart of the nation". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
- ^ a b Wright, Tony (30 June 2010). "PM tells it as she sees it on the God issue". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
- ^ a b "The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Member for Lalor (Vic)". Australian House of Representatives. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ "Gillard becomes first female PM: ABC News 24 June 2007". Abc.net.au. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ a b Lunn, Stephen (25 June 2010). "Let's wait and see on marriage, says Julia Gillard's partner". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ Gillard seeks mandate to take Australia forward: SMH 17 July 2010
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
AusStory
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
counterpoint
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Wright, Lincoln (7 August 2007). "Will Julia Gillard's past cause red faces?". Sunday Herald Sun. News Limited. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ Gillard, Julia (2003). "Personal Perspectives on Parliament Lower House: Lower House" (PDF). One Hundred Years of Women's Suffrage in Australia, Centenary Issue. Commonwealth of Australia. pp. 34–36. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ a b "'Counterpoint' – ABC Radio National – 'Julia Gillard in Person' (20 September 2004)". Abc.net.au. 20 September 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ Summers, Anne (25 June 2010). "Historic moment, but barriers remain for half the population". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ "Ms Julia Gillard MP, Member for Labor (Vic), First speech to Parliament". Australian House of Representatives. 11 November 1998. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
- ^ "Crean names new team". ABC News. 18 February 2003. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Hudson, Phillip (2 July 2003). "ALP rising star for key health role". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Wroe, David (30 September 2003). "Doctor groups hail promotion of 'head kicker'". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Banham, Cynthia (3 December 2003). "Gillard's loyalty pays off". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Grattan, Michelle (22 January 2005). "Beazley no to Gillard as deputy". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ "The Gillard Diaries". Australian Story. 6 March 2006. ABC1. yes.
{{cite episode}}
: External link in
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|serieslink=
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suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|transcripturl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Julia Gillard preferred ALP leader: poll". The Age. Fairfax. 2 April 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
- ^ Grattan, Michelle (27 January 2005). "Gillard tells Beazley to be a bold leader". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Hudson, Phillip; Coorey, Phillip (1 December 2006). "Rudd, Gillard confirm challenge". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Coorey, Phillip (5 December 2006). "We'll rebuild nation, says Rudd". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Grattan, Michelle (11 December 2006). "Plums for Rudd men in shadow reshuffle". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Marriner, Cosima (26 November 2007). "Gillard reveals: it was the go-girl factor". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Harrison, Dan (19 October 2009). "Ms Gillard goes to Washington". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
- ^ Kerin, Lindy (10 December 2007). "Gillard makes Aust history as female acting PM". ABC News. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Norington, Brad (24 November 2008). "Business as usual for Gillard the caretaker". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ van Onselen, Peter (14 March 2009). "Shorten pathway to a Gillard future". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ Viellaris, Renee (20 March 2009). "WorkChoices finally dead: Julia Gillard". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ "PM promises not to extend Work Choices". The Age. Fairfax. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2007.
- ^ Bita, Natasha (10 September 2009). "Grant to trail girl to next school". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ Bita, Natasha (22 October 2009). "Julia Gillard to reclaim school payouts". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ Harvey, Michael (23 June 2010). "Federal Labor MPs moving to axe Kevin Rudd and replace him with Julia Gillard". Herald Sun. News Limited. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ a b Kerr, Christian; Franklin, Matthew (24 June 2010). "Julia Gillard 'honoured' to become prime minister as Kevin Rudd stands aside". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Farr, Malcolm (24 June 2010). "'Julia Gillard is Australia's new Prime Minister' – Malcolm Farr, Alison Rehn, Steve Lewis and Simon Benson (24 June 2010)". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "The Gillard Coup | Q&A | ABC TV". Abc.net.au. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/gillards-fawning-over-obama-a-bad-start-on-diplomatic-front-20100629-zj3h.html.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYU01029220100717
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/13/2951683.htm
- ^ http://www.theage.com.au/national/gillard-mum-on-rudd-resignation-deal-20100715-10c1x.html?from=age_sb
- ^ Archer, Lincoln (13 July 2010). "Back to school: Julia Gillard offers uniforms refund to parents". news.com.au.
- ^ a b Peter Mares (7 December 2009). "The Making of Julia Gillard". Australian Policy Online. (book review)
- ^ "Julia Gillard, Prime Minister After Labor Leadership Challenge". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Book review of Gillard Biography
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Fitzgerald, Ross. "Say, weren't you left-wing? ", The Australian, Sydney, 3 July 2010. Retrieved on 2010-07-06.
- ^ a b Peatling, Stephanie (27 June 2010). "Don't hurtle towards a big Australia: PM". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
- ^ "Gillard shuts door on 'big Australia'". ABC News Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 June 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
- ^ "Gillard warns on abortion funding". The Age. Fairfax. 3 February 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
- ^ "Gillard does not support gay marriage". 7 news. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
- ^ "Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson 'bubbly'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ Valent, Dani (18 May 2007). "Our Julia". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ "Gillard defends childlessness". The Australian. News Limited. 17 January 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
- ^ "Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaks to Jon Faine". 29 June 2010. ABC. 774.
{{cite episode}}
: Missing or empty|series=
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ignored (|location=
suggested) (help) - ^ McNicol, Adam (24 June 2010). "Dogs celebrate fan Gillard's ascension to PM". afl.com.au. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official Federal HOR webpages for Julia Gillard
- Official Federal Ministrial webpages for Julia Gillard
- Official ALP webpage for Julia Gillard
- The Hon Julia Gillard MP – Deputy Prime Minister
- Official Facebook page of Julia Gillard
- Search or browse Hansard for Julia Gillard at OpenAustralia.org
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