Julia Gillard was born in Wales in 1961 and moved to Adelaide as a child due to health issues. She studied at the University of Adelaide and University of Melbourne, graduating with law and arts degrees. Gillard became involved in politics as a student and went on to serve as a parliament member, opposition leader, deputy prime minister, and ultimately prime minister of Australia in 2010.
3. Julia’s Early Life Julia Gillard was born on the 29 th September 1961. She was born in Wales and suffered from bronchopneumonia as a child, so they relocated to Adelaide thinking it would be safer in a warmer climate. She is the youngest child in her family, and has one older sister. She studied at the University of Adelaide but cut her courses short and moved to Melbourne to work with the Australian Union of students. She attended The University of Melbourne and graduated in 1986 with A Bachelor of Arts and A Bachelor of Laws.
4. Introduction to politics In Julia’s second year at the University of Adelaide, she was introduced to politics by the daughter of a state Labour minister. She joined the Labour club and became involved in a campaign fighting against education budget cuts. In 1983, after moving to Melbourne, she began to lead the Australian Union of students, the second female to ever do so. Between 1996 and 1998, she was the Chief staff to John Brumby, the opposition leader at the time.
5. Julia as an Opposition Member In 1998, Julia was elected as a member of Labour by the House of Representatives and made her first speech on 11 th November that year. 2001-2003 Julia was the ‘Shadow leader for population and Immigration’ 2003-2006 She was promoted to the ‘Shadow minister for Health’ On December 4 th 2006 Julia became Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.
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7. Gillard becoming Prime Minister On the 23 rd of June, after several meetings between Gillard, Rudd and other factional leaders, Kevin Rudd announced to the public that Gillard had asked him to hold a leadership ballot the following day to determine the leadership of the Labour Party and therefore the Prime Minister of Australia. Initially, Rudd said he would challenge Julia, but hours before the vote he pulled aside as it was obvious he didn’t have enough support to win the vote. Julia then won unopposed, and shortly after was sworn in as the 27 th Prime Minister of Australia by Quentin Bryce.
8. Election 2010 Julia Gillard called for a Federal election to be held on August 21 st . In the first week, the polls showed Gillard being up by ten points, 55-45. Julia then appeared on The Great Debate against opposition leader Tony Abbott where she was declared a strong winner by both Channel 9 and Channel 7.