Now could she be the first one to fall in the liberal camp?Going on how there is dissastifaction with liberals of having an umarried person as the pm it appears they have one also in the deputy. Kind of crazy but you do have to look into the backyard to get down with the troops sometimes and see what they realy have to offer.Now if elected she would be the pm while Tony is away on foriegn bussiness.Anyway its a good read on a bit of party politics that the liberals have .I mean have not got.I mean um ah um mmmm party factions? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bishop was born in Lobethal, South Australia, and was educated at the St Peter's Collegiate Girls' School, the University of Adelaide and the Harvard Business School. She graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Laws in 1978, and subsequently practised as a barrister and solicitor at the Adelaide law firm Mangan, Ey & Bishop, where she was a partner. In 1983 Bishop married property developer Neil Gillion, however they divorced five years later.[3] Bishop has not remarried since. She relocated to Perth after getting married where she practised as a commercial litigation solicitor at Robinson Cox (now Clayton Utz). She became a partner of Clayton Utz in 1985, and managing partner of the Perth office in 1994. In 1996 she attended Harvard Business School in Boston and completed the Advanced Management Program for Senior Managers.
Bishop was Chair of the Town Planning Appeal Tribunal of Western Australia, a Senate Member of Murdoch University, a director of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and a director and fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. She has also served on the Council of Governors of the Lions Ear and Hearing Institute.[4]
[edit] Member of Parliament Bishop won pre-selection for the seat of Curtin, Western Australia in 1998, and went on to win the seat for the Liberal Party at the Federal Election later that year against the sitting member and former Liberal turned independent, Allan Rocher, who had held the seat since 1981.
Following the Liberals' February 2001 State election loss by Richard Court to Geoff Gallop, Bishop was mooted as a possible contender for the leader of the state opposition.[4] Initially Court had announced that he would stay on as opposition leader, but had secretly negotiated a deal under which she would leave the Federal Parliament and factional opponent Colin Barnett would move to Canberra.[5] The deal soon collapsed however with Court resigning and Bishop declaring that the arrangement wasn't bizarre, but "... innovative, different."[4] Barnett took over the position.
[edit] Minister in the Howard Government Bishop was appointed Minister for Ageing in 2003. She was later promoted to Minister for Education, Science and Training and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues in the cabinet reshuffle on 24 January 2006 and served in those positions until the defeat of the Coalition government at the federal election held on 24 November 2007.
Bishop's education policies centred on the development of national education standards as well as performance-based pay for teachers.[6] On 13 April 2007, the Australian State Governments expressed opposition to Bishop's policies, notably those relating to performance pay. In the 2007 Budget, the Federal Government announced a $5b "endowment fund" for higher education, with an express goal of providing world-class tertiary institutions in Australia.[7]
Some of Bishop's comments, such as "the states have ideologically hijacked school syllabi and are wasting $180 million in unnecessary duplication" have been criticised by teachers. An advance media kit for a recent speech claimed parts of the present curriculum came "straight from Chairman Mao", however the reference was dropped from her speech.[8][9][10]
[edit] Shadow Ministry and Deputy Liberal Leader
Bishop with Malcolm Turnbull (centre) and Helen Coonan (left) in July 2009.Following the Coalition's loss at the 2007 election, Bishop was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party under Brendan Nelson on 29 November 2007. In a ballot of Liberal party room members, Bishop prevailed with 44 votes, one more than the combined total of her two competitors: Andrew Robb (25 votes) and Christopher Pyne (18 votes).[11] On 22 September, Bishop was offered the role of Shadow Treasurer by Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, making her the first woman to hold the portfolio of any major party at the federal level. On 16 February 2009, she resigned from the position of Shadow Treasurer, due to dissatisfaction within Liberal ranks over her performance.[12] The shadow treasury portfolio was taken over by Joe Hockey, while Bishop moved to Foreign Affairs, whilst maintaining her position of Deputy Leader.[13] On 1 December 2009, Tony Abbott was elected leader. Bishop retained the deputy role.[14].
In 2010 Bishop defended the suspected forgery of Australian passports by Mossad, saying that many countries practiced the forging of passports for intelligence operations, including Australia.[15] This drew criticism from the government, who questioned her suitability as a decision maker in Australian foreign policy.[16] She later claimed to have been misunderstood and issued a statement indicating that: "I have no knowledge of any Australian authority forging any passports of any nation."[17]
Bishop retained the role of Deputy Leader without challenge following the Coalition's narrow loss in the 2010 Federal Election, [18] and retained the portfolios of Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Shadow Minister for Trade Bishop was born in Lobethal, South Australia, and was educated at the St Peter's Collegiate Girls' School, the University of Adelaide and the Harvard Business School. She graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Laws in 1978, and subsequently practised as a barrister and solicitor at the Adelaide law firm Mangan, Ey & Bishop, where she was a partner. In 1983 Bishop married property developer Neil Gillion, however they divorced five years later.[3] Bishop has not remarried since. She relocated to Perth after getting married where she practised as a commercial litigation solicitor at Robinson Cox (now Clayton Utz). She became a partner of Clayton Utz in 1985, and managing partner of the Perth office in 1994. In 1996 she attended Harvard Business School in Boston and completed the Advanced Management Program for Senior Managers.
Bishop was Chair of the Town Planning Appeal Tribunal of Western Australia, a Senate Member of Murdoch University, a director of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and a director and fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. She has also served on the Council of Governors of the Lions Ear and Hearing Institute.[4]
[edit] Member of Parliament Bishop won pre-selection for the seat of Curtin, Western Australia in 1998, and went on to win the seat for the Liberal Party at the Federal Election later that year against the sitting member and former Liberal turned independent, Allan Rocher, who had held the seat since 1981.
Following the Liberals' February 2001 State election loss by Richard Court to Geoff Gallop, Bishop was mooted as a possible contender for the leader of the state opposition.[4] Initially Court had announced that he would stay on as opposition leader, but had secretly negotiated a deal under which she would leave the Federal Parliament and factional opponent Colin Barnett would move to Canberra.[5] The deal soon collapsed however with Court resigning and Bishop declaring that the arrangement wasn't bizarre, but "... innovative, different."[4] Barnett took over the position.
[edit] Minister in the Howard Government Bishop was appointed Minister for Ageing in 2003. She was later promoted to Minister for Education, Science and Training and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues in the cabinet reshuffle on 24 January 2006 and served in those positions until the defeat of the Coalition government at the federal election held on 24 November 2007.
Bishop's education policies centred on the development of national education standards as well as performance-based pay for teachers.[6] On 13 April 2007, the Australian State Governments expressed opposition to Bishop's policies, notably those relating to performance pay. In the 2007 Budget, the Federal Government announced a $5b "endowment fund" for higher education, with an express goal of providing world-class tertiary institutions in Australia.[7]
Some of Bishop's comments, such as "the states have ideologically hijacked school syllabi and are wasting $180 million in unnecessary duplication" have been criticised by teachers. An advance media kit for a recent speech claimed parts of the present curriculum came "straight from Chairman Mao", however the reference was dropped from her speech.[8][9][10]
[edit] Shadow Ministry and Deputy Liberal Leader
Bishop with Malcolm Turnbull (centre) and Helen Coonan (left) in July 2009.Following the Coalition's loss at the 2007 election, Bishop was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party under Brendan Nelson on 29 November 2007. In a ballot of Liberal party room members, Bishop prevailed with 44 votes, one more than the combined total of her two competitors: Andrew Robb (25 votes) and Christopher Pyne (18 votes).[11] On 22 September, Bishop was offered the role of Shadow Treasurer by Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, making her the first woman to hold the portfolio of any major party at the federal level. On 16 February 2009, she resigned from the position of Shadow Treasurer, due to dissatisfaction within Liberal ranks over her performance.[12] The shadow treasury portfolio was taken over by Joe Hockey, while Bishop moved to Foreign Affairs, whilst maintaining her position of Deputy Leader.[13] On 1 December 2009, Tony Abbott was elected leader. Bishop retained the deputy role.[14].
In 2010 Bishop defended the suspected forgery of Australian passports by Mossad, saying that many countries practiced the forging of passports for intelligence operations, including Australia.[15] This drew criticism from the government, who questioned her suitability as a decision maker in Australian foreign policy.[16] She later claimed to have been misunderstood and issued a statement indicating that: "I have no knowledge of any Australian authority forging any passports of any nation."[17]
Bishop retained the role of Deputy Leader without challenge following the Coalition's narrow loss in the 2010 Federal Election, [18] and retained the portfolios of Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Shadow Minister for Trade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Bishop
