Julia Gillard

Julia Eileen Gillard
Date of birth	29 September 1961
Age	65
Party	Australian Labor Party
Prime Minister
From	23 June 2010
To
Succeeded	Kevin Rudd
Preceded	—
Labor Party leader
From	24 June 2010
To
Succeeded	Kevin Rudd
Preceded	—

Julia Gillard is the 27th Prime Minister of Australia and parliamentary leader of the Australian Labor Party, having succeeded Kevin Rudd upon his resignation on June 24, 2010. She previously served as deputy prime minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations in Rudd's cabinet.

Gillard called a Federal election for 21st August 2010 to try and achieve a mandate in her own right. The election was much closer than expected and almost resulted in a hung parlaiment. After three weeks of negotiations she was able to form a government with a majority of 2 seats, making her the first elected female Australian Prime Minister.

Her government is formed in the House of Representative of the Parliament of Australia as a coalition of seventy-two members of the Australian Labour Party, one Green Party member and three independants (a total of 76 seats), while the opposition is a coalition of the Liberal Party of Australia (44 seats), Liberal-National Queensland (21), the National Party (7), one Country Liberal and one independant.

Gillard's liberal Labour Party Government is the most unpopular for 15 years, largely due to her misguided attempt at a carbon tax to combat "climate change".

Professional training and public life

Gillard is a lawyer by profession, and served as a lawyer for a trade union before entering politics.

She won the Federal parlamentary seat for the Division of Lalor (in south-western suburban Melbourne, Victoria) on 3 October 1998, and has served (in Opposition) as:

• Shadow Minister for Population and Immigration: 2001–2003
• Shadow Minister for Health: 2003–06
• Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 1 December 2006

then, in government, as:

• Deputy Prime Minister: 2007–10
• Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
• Prime Minister from 24 June 2010

On 23 February 2012, she announced that she would declare vacant the position of party lerader at a meeting of the elected members on 27 February 2012, thus inviting other members to offer themselves for the office of Prime Minister. This followd the dramatic resignation earlier in the day (in Washingtom DC) by Kevin Rudd, who claimed that she was not backing him as Foreign Minister.

Personal Life

Gillard lives in the official residence of the Prime Minister, "The Lodge", with her partner, Tim Mathieson, a hairdresser by profession. They have lived together since 2006. She had previous relationships with several trade union officials and a fellow Federal Labor Member of Parliament. She has never married and has no children.

While Gillard was brought up in the Baptist tradition, she now professes to have not religious belief.

References

http://www.pm.gov.au/your-pm