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Julian Christopher Hill is an Australian politician who is as of July 2016 serving as an Australian Labor Party (ALP) Member of Parliament for Bruce in the House of Representatives. Hill was previously the fourth Mayor of Port Phillip and was elected to parliament at the 2016 federal election, where he succeeded Alan Griffin. He was appointed Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship following a ministerial reshuffle on July 29, 2024.

Before entering Parliament, Hill was the youngest councillor elected to the City of Port Phillip in 1999, and in 2000 became the City's youngest Mayor, serving two terms from 2000 to 2002. Hill was re-elected to serve another term as Councilor of the City in 2002 and served until 2005. Hill then forged a senior executive career in the Victorian Public Service, serving under Labor and Liberal Governments.

Early life and education

Julian Christopher Hill was raised by his mother after his father, a medical doctor, died when he was four years old. He has described how his mother, a nurse and midwife by profession, instilled in him the values of "responsibility, hard work and compassion".

He grew up in the east Melbourne suburb of Burwood and attended Wesley College from 1985 to 1990. He obtained a Bachelor of Science (chemistry) and a Bachelor of Laws degrees from Monash University in 2000, and a Graduate Certificate of International Relations from Deakin University in 2015.

Hill is one of only a handful of Federal Australian parliamentarians with a science degree, and has spoken of his "love of science as a kid ... growing up, one of my favourite possessions, and I had to get a few of them, was the old chemistry set."

He became a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia in 2012.

Career

Hill started his career as an electorate officer and adviser for his predecessor Alan Griffin in 1995. From 2002 until his election to parliament in 2016, he worked as a senior public servant for the Victorian Government in the Departments of Transport, Sustainability and Environment, Planning and Community Development, and Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.

Councillor and mayor of Port Phillip

In 1999 Hill was elected a councillor of the City of Port Phillip and re-elected for a second term in 2002. In 2000 he was elected as the youngest ever mayor of the city at the age of 25 and served two terms.

As mayor, Hill led the city through a period of enormous and rapid change, including a development boom as inner city bayside suburbs rapidly gentrified. Hill led high-profile initiatives in the municipality which generated metropolitan attention, including transport planning, parking management, complex social policy reforms and the Greening Port Phillip program. As mayor, Hill signed the first friendship agreement between an Australian local government and an East Timorese town. Founded on the principles of community development, the Friends of Suai celebrated its 20th year in 2020.

In 2000, an article in The Age stated that " far from hiding his light in local government Hill is fast becoming the most outspoken Mayor in Melbourne." Questioned about being a young high-profile councilor and mayor, Hill commented that "here is something insidious about saying, 'Aren't you too young to be doing this job?' It is the other end of the scale from saying, 'Oh, you're 60, your brain must be soft.'"

Parliamentary service

Hill was elected as the 5th Member for Bruce at the Federal election on 2 July 2016, defeating high profile Liberal candidate Helen Kroger. Hill achieved a swing of 2.28% to Labor and a margin of 4.08%. Hill was re-elected in 2019 and 2022.

In 2018, as part of a redistribution altering electoral boundaries, media reports suggested Hill was the biggest beneficiary. He was reelected in 2019.

In 2023, Hill made a speech in Parliament that was partially written by OpenAI's ChatGPT. In the speech, Hill commented on the potentially destructive elements of the technology, stating that it had the ability to cause mass destruction.

Hill was the chair of the Australian Parliament's Joint Statutory Committee of Public Accounts and Audit from August 2022 until his appointment as Assistant Minister in July 2024. This Committee oversees the Commonwealth Auditor-General, the Parliamentary Budget Office and interrogates the Australian Government's expenditure, performance and financial statements.

Views

Hill made it clear in his maiden speech he held strong views against the monarchy. In December 2019, he addressed the chamber on the issue, stating that when he was first elected it was a confronting moment for him to take an oath of allegiance to a foreigner. He spoke of feeling like a cheap traitor, going as far as stating that he crossed his fingers when taking his oath of allegiance.

In his first speech Hill stated: "I am conscious that as a rainbow Labor member my election is a very small step to adding to the diversity of this parliament, and I am proud to see more LGBTI Australians in this parliament than the last." He is a member of Labor's Left faction. Hill has championed Australian multiculturalism and spoken up about the importance of Australia embracing its human diversity to ensure future success; whether that be on the grounds of race, gender, sexuality or religion.

Hill was heavily criticised by representatives of the International Education industry after a 'train wreck' interview, where he responded to claims of government incompetence by '(making) no apology' for his championing of catastrophic 'reforms' to the regulation of the sector.

Personal life

Hill is gay, and has spoken of two former long-term partners, Lorien and David.

Hill has spoken in Parliament about "the enormous privilege and authentic human experience" he had nursing his mother at home for the 10 months before her death, after she was diagnosed with an incurable cancer in 2008.

Hill campaigned for amendment to Australian prescription drug laws following an incident in 2017 which left his daughter Elanor with a 64 cm blood clot after she was prescribed the oral contraceptive Diane-35 to use as an acne medication, which was not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Hill's brother and only sibling was the actor and independent filmmaker Damian Hill, best known for writing and acting in the 2016 film Pawno. Damian died on 22 September 2018. Julian Hill presented the inaugural Damian Hill Independent Film Award, named in honour of his brother, at the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival.

See also

• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2022–2025

References

1. "Julian Hill on LinkedIn: Human diversity is the distinguishing characteristic of my local… | 39 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
2. Australian Parliament House (11 August 2024). "Hon Julian Hill MP". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
3. "Instruments of appointment to the Federal Executive Council: 29 July 2024". www.pmc.gov.au. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
4. Coade, Melissa (29 July 2024). "What the APS needs to know about the politicians orbiting cabinet's outer ministry". The Mandarin. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
5. ^ "Julian Hill (ALP-Bruce) – Maiden Speech | AustralianPolitics.com". australianpolitics.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
6. "10 years today since my mum died..." Facebook. 4 September 2019.
7. "Hansard Display".
8. ^ "Bruce - Australia Votes". Election 2016. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
9. "Graduation Ceremonies, Geelong: October 2015" (PDF). Deakin University. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
10. "City of Port Phillip Website". www.portphillip.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009.
11. "Your Mayor - City of Port Phillip Website". www.portphillip.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
12. "City of Port Phillip Website". www.portphillip.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009.
13. "City of Port Phllip Annual report 2000/2001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
14. "City of Port Phllip Annual Report 1999-2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
15. Finlay, Sally. The Age, 2000. 'Who is afraid of the local government brat pack?'
16. "Bruce - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
17. Karp, Paul (6 April 2018). "Greens accuse Labor of 'gerrymander' in draft seat redistribution". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
18. "Federal Election 2019 Results - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
19. Karp, Paul (6 February 2023). "MP tells Australia's parliament AI could be used for 'mass destruction' in speech part-written by ChatGPT". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
20. "Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
21. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Hon Julian Hill MP". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 11 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
22. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Committee Membership". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 11 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
23. "Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
24. "Hansard Display". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
25. "First Speech". Hansard. 2019.
26. "Federal Election 2019". The Poll Bludger. 2019.
27. "First Speech". Hansard. 2019.
28. Baker, Amy. Pie Review, 2024. 'Australia's visa slowdown'
29. Koizol, Michael (7 December 2017). "Same-sex marriage bill: Parliament's LGBTI politicians in their own words". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
30. Hill, Julian (24 May 2018). "Hansard Display". STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS - National Palliative Care Week.
31. Hill, Julian (12 September 2019). "Hansard Display". Federation Chamber - CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS - Aged Care, Endeavour Ministries.
32. McCauley, Dana (24 February 2019). "Labor MP Julian Hill calls for crackdown on drug safety". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
33. "Pawno". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
34. Quinn, Karl (24 September 2018). "Australian actor Damian Hill, star of Pawno, dead at 42". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
35. Quinn, Karl (3 August 2019). "Damian Hill the absent star of Measure for Measure world premiere at MIFF". The Age. Retrieved 26 August 2021.

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