Josh Wilson (politician)

Joshua Hamilton "Josh" Wilson (born 5 June 1972) is an Australian politician. He is the member for Fremantle in the Australian House of Representatives. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party and succeeded the previous member, Melissa Parke, at the 2016 federal election.^[1]

Career

Before going into politics, Wilson served as an Associate Lecturer at Curtin University, a paralegal and litigation project manager, a freelance journalist as well as a travel writer.^[2]

Wilson has been a councillor in City of Fremantle since 2009,^[3] was Deputy Mayor of Fremantle from 2011 and also worked as a staffer to Parke. During his time as Deputy Mayor, Wilson initiated the "Fremantle Forever" campaign which opposed local government amalgamations, worked on economic development and revitalisation, and introduced an Indigenous employment target. He initially lost preselection to contest the seat in 2016 to Chris Brown, but he became the candidate when Brown was forced to stand aside after failing to declare spent convictions.^[1] He won office in the House of Representatives with 40.99% of the vote.^[4]

He is currently a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and the Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the NBN.^[2]

Personal life

Wilson was born June 5, 1972 in London, England to Poonam and GR Wilson with a brother Mo and sister Gy. As a child for periods he lifted in a "bamboo hut" in India and in Long Island, New York before living in Fremantle.^[2] He is married to Georgia Wilson and has 3 children, Oscar, Priya and Abby.^[5][6]

References