Julia Gillard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Julia Eileen Gillard
Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party
In office 4 December 2006 – Present
Preceded by	Jenny Macklin
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Constituency	Lalor
Born	29 September 1961 Barry, Wales, UK
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Residence	Werribee, Victoria
Website	www.juliagillard.alp.org.au

Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is the current deputy leader of the federal Australian Labor Party (ALP), and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament. She has been an ALP member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998, representing the Division of Lalor, Victoria. She was elected unopposed as Deputy Leader on December 4, 2006, and became Shadow Minister for Employment & Industrial Relations, and Shadow Minister for Social Inclusion on December 10, 2006[1].

[edit] Childhood and education

Gillard was born in Barry, Wales. In 1966, she migrated to Australia with her family, settling in South Australia. She attended the University of Adelaide, and was elected the President of the Adelaide University Union. In 1983, Gillard became the second woman to lead the Australian Union of Students. It was also at this time that she began her association with the Australian Labor Party.

[edit] Early career

Gillard subsequently moved to Melbourne, and in 1986 graduated from the University of Melbourne with law and arts degrees. In 1987 she joined the law firm Slater & Gordon at Werribee, working in the area of industrial law. In 1990 she was admitted as one of their first women partners.

From 1996 to 1998, Gillard served as Chief-of-Staff to Victorian Opposition Leader, John Brumby. 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.

[edit] Political career

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

Gillard was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1998 election and made her first speech on 11 November 1998.^[1] After the party's defeat at the 2001 election she 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.

As Shadow Minister for Immigration, Gillard developed a new immigration policy for the Labor Party, in the hope of neutralising immigration as an election issue, after the role of the Tampa affair in Labor's 2001 election loss.

Gillard was promoted to the position of Shadow Health Minister in July 2003. This move may have prompted the government's decision to move then-Workplace Relations Minister, Tony Abbott, into the health portfolio. 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. Though she initially refused to deny that she would challenge, she ruled it out several days later.

When Shadow Treasurer Simon Crean announced that he would not seek re-appointment to the portfolio, Gillard was widely tipped as a potential candidate. She was known to have the support of then-Leader Mark Latham, though he came under strong factional pressure to appoint either Stephen Smith or Wayne Swan instead. This was attributed to several factors: Gillard's position on the left wing of the party, her relative lack of economic experience and her position as a clear Latham ally.

Gillard has been touted as a potential future leader of the party for some years, but until 2005 she stayed out of leadership contests due to her support for Simon Crean and Mark Latham. However, Latham resigned as leader in January 2005, and Gillard emerged as a possible successor, along with Kim Beazley and Kevin Rudd.

Gillard was holidaying in Vietnam at the time of Latham's resignation and did not commit herself to contesting the leadership. Despite belonging to the Ferguson Left faction, she had the support of some in the Right, such as former leader Crean. She began a period of canvassing support within the Party, amid media rumours that her supporters planned for her to supplant Jenny Macklin as Deputy Leader. Gillard expressed her exasperation with the leading Right figures backing Kim Beazley's leadership bid, claiming that they were using the media to undermine her.^[2] On 25 January 2005, she announced that she would not be contesting the leadership, allowing Beazley to be elected unopposed.

In March 2006 she raised her public profile by appearing on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Australian Story programme.^[3] In early April 2006, an Ipsos Mackay poll conducted for the Ten Network's Meet the Press program showed that Gillard was voters' preferred leader of the Labor party. She polled 32% compared to Beazley's 25% and Kevin Rudd's 18%.^[4]

Gillard is a single woman with no children, and has stated in an interview with The Bulletin that she believes motherhood and a career as a top-ranking politician are incompatible. [2].

In December 2006 the men's magazine "Zoo Weekly" offered to donate $50,000 to African charities if Gillard appeared in a racy photo shoot for their magazine.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2006 Deputy Leader challenge

On 1 December 2006, in a political partnership with Kevin Rudd, Gillard launched a challenge for the deputy leadership of the ALP. Gillard was expected to contest the position with incumbent Jenny Macklin, but on December 4, 2006, Gillard was instead elected unopposed to the position of deputy leader of the ALP. If Labor wins government while she still holds this position, Gillard will be the first woman to become Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. In the frontbench reshuffle after the leadership change, Gillard elected not to take the position of Shadow Treasurer, instead moving to the Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio.

[edit] References

1. ^ Ms Julia Gillard MP, Member for Lalor (Vic), First Speech To Parliament. Australian Parliament House (11 November 1998). Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
2. ^ Unretrievable 5 December 2006. News.com.au.
3. ^ Julia Gillard Interview Transcript. Australian Story. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (6 March 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
4. ^ Julia Gillard preferred ALP leader: poll. The Age (2 April 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-05.

[edit] External links

• Official Federal HOR Site for Julia Gillard
• Official ALP Site for Julia Gillard