Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard (2011)

Julia Eileen Gillard [ ˈgɪlaːd ] (born September 29, 1961 in Barry , Wales , United Kingdom ) is a former British - Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party and was the Prime Minister of Australia from June 24, 2010 to June 26, 2013 .

The lawyer was a member of the Australian Parliament from 1998 to 2013 and was Minister for Education, Labor and Social Security from 2007 to 2010. She was the first woman, the first unmarried, and the first non-Australian born person since Billy Hughes to serve as Prime Minister .

Personal

She is the daughter of John Gillard († 2012) and Moria, née Mackenzie. Her father worked as a nurse in a psychiatric clinic and her mother in the Salvation Army .

In 1966 her family emigrated to Australia and settled in Adelaide . In Australia, she received Australian citizenship in 1974, and gave up British citizenship when she entered Parliament in 1998. She and her sister Alison, three years older than her , attended the Mitcham Demonstration School in Mitcham , a neighborhood in Adelaide . Julia Gillard then went to Unley High School .

Julia Gillard and Tim Mathieson (January 2013)

Julia Gillard is unmarried, childless and lives in Melbourne . She has been in a relationship with Tim Mathieson, who works as a hairdresser, since 2006. Julia Gillard, who was in a Baptist community as a child , now calls herself an atheist .

Professional background

Gillard studied at the University of Adelaide and later at the University of Melbourne , where she graduated in humanities and law in 1986. In 1987, Gillard was employed as a lawyer at Slater & Gordon law firm in Werribee , where she specialized in labor law. In 1990 she became a partner in the law firm.

politics

Career start

In 1983 Julia Gillard became the second female chairwoman of the Australian Union of Students . She was also in the leadership of the Socialist Forum . From 1996 to 1998 she was part of the staff of the then opposition leader and later Prime Minister of the Southeast Australian state Victoria John Brumby . Among other things, she was responsible for setting a quota for women among the Labor Party candidates.

In October 1998, Gillard was first elected as a member of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian House of Commons . She was elected to the constituency of Lalor , Victoria . From 2001 to 2003 she was shadow minister for population issues and immigration for the Labor Party, which was then in opposition, and for health from 2003 to 2006. After Kevin Rudd succeeded Kim Beazley as opposition leader, Gillard took over the position as his deputy and became shadow minister for labor.

After Labor's overwhelming victory for Kevin Rudd in the federal elections on November 24, 2007 , she became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Labor and Social Equality. There her main task was to reverse the labor market reforms of the era of the Conservative Prime Minister John Howard , which became known as WorkChoices , to a large extent and to restore numerous rights of workers and unions.

Prime minister

The initially overwhelmingly positive poll results from Prime Minister Rudd and the ALP deteriorated in the course of the first half of 2010 to such an extent that success in the elections due at the end of the year seemed to be in jeopardy. On the evening of June 23, rumors grew that the right wing of the party in particular was promptly replacing Rudd. Gillard was considered the favorite at a challenge from Rudd. A meeting of the Labor Party's parliamentary group was called for the following morning at 9:30 a.m. and Gillard was elected its new chairman. Rudd did not stand for re-election after only the “hard left” supported him.

Shortly after her inauguration, she asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament. In the subsequent elections on August 21, 2010 , the Labor Party suffered significant losses, especially in Queensland and New South Wales , and lost a majority in the House of Commons. After tough negotiations that ended 17 days after the election, Gillard was able to count on a majority of two votes thanks to the support of a Green and three independents and thus continue to govern.

As Prime Minister, she has launched two major projects in particular: the establishment of a national broadband network (NBN) and - in breach of an explicit election promise - the introduction of an emissions trading system (ETS). It has also increased investments in education and training and implemented a number of health and social policy projects, such as the reform of hospital financing that Rudd had started. The ban on advertising tobacco products attracted worldwide attention . In addition, it regulated the taxation of profits from the mining industry (MRRT), which was agreed before the election, as well as the associated gradual increase in employer contributions to individual retirement provision. It was criticized that the MRRT generated less than a tenth of the budgeted revenue of 2 billion dollars in the 2012/2013 financial year due to weaknesses laid down in the law.

A particular challenge in January 2011 was dealing with the flood damage in Queensland and New South Wales , for which she was generally certified as having effective crisis management. The problem in refugee policy created by the previous government's abolition of the “ Pacific Solution ” remains unsolved after the High Court declared the agreement with Malaysia on the exchange of refugees to be unconstitutional. According to an analysis by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation , by the beginning of 2012 it had essentially implemented its election agenda in a legislative manner.

As Prime Minister, she faced sexist attacks from the opposition liberal-conservative party led by Tony Abbott . On the occasion of a donation dinner of the Liberal Party of Australia , the menu read: “Julia Gillard: Quail with small breasts and fat thighs”. In a speech she defended herself against sexist attacks in parliament. This speech, known as angry speech, was viewed 3.3 million times on YouTube .

resignation

Gillard was controversial within the party during her tenure and had to face three votes on the party leadership. On June 26, 2013, Gillard lost to her predecessor Kevin Rudd . In accordance with parliamentary practice, she also handed over the office of Prime Minister to Rudd. Gillard had announced he would withdraw from politics in the event of defeat.

Since 2014 she has headed the international organization Global Partnership for Education .

See also

• List of female heads of state and government

Web links

Commons : Julia Gillard  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Julia Gillard in the nndb (English)
• Official Federal HOR website for Julia Gillard

Footnotes

1. ↑ Julia Gillard PM speaks for the last time to Kerry O'Brien. Retrieved January 4, 2011 (Australian English, at 28s). 
2. ^ Julia Gillard - Meet The Press Ep 35 Part 1. Retrieved January 4, 2011 (Australian English, at 59s). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} zeit.de : The machos are going on Julia Gillard , accessed on June 28, 2013
4. ^ Gillard addresses students at former high school . In: ABC News , December 14, 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2010. 
5. ↑ PM tells it as she sees it on the God issue. Retrieved January 4, 2011 . 
6. ^ First Speech To Parliament. Archived from the original on April 23, 2001 ; Retrieved November 11, 1998 . 
7. ↑ Cf. Krause, Thomas (2012): Two-year balance sheet of the Gillard government in Australia. Pragmatic government policy under difficult conditions (PDF; 137 kB) Retrieved on June 27, 2012
8. ↑ Julia Gillard's 'misogyny speech' in full (2012) | ABC News. Retrieved January 13, 2020 . 
9. ↑ Kevin Rudd ousts Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard. BBC , June 26, 2013, accessed June 26, 2013 . 
10. ↑ Julia Gillard | Global Partnership for Education. Retrieved June 16, 2020 (English).