Julia Banks Biography

Julia Helen Banks (born September 18, 1962) is an Australian politician and lawyer. Elected as Chisholm’s member at the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 federal election, Banks was the only candidate to win an opposition party seat for the governing Liberal-National Coalition. Since 1998, the previous member, Labor’s Anna Burke, held the seat and in 2016 did not stand for re-election.

Julia Banks

Following the August 2018 spill of the Liberal Party leadership that saw Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull replaced by Scott Morrison, Banks stated that it would not contest the 2019 federal election; and in November 2018 it announced that it had left the party to become an independent MP and sit on the crossbench.

Julia Banks Age

She is 56 years old as of 2018 September.

Julia Banks Family| Parents

Banks was born in Melbourne and raised. Her parents are both Greek heritage and her father from Greece as a 15-year-old migrated to Australia. At Monash University, she studied Arts and Law and graduated in 1984 and 1986 respectively. She graduated from the Australian Company Directors Institute.

Julia Banks Married| Husband| Spouse

She married Mike Banks in 1991, the duo have two children.

Julia Banks Education And Career

Banks worked primarily in litigation as a private practice lawyer and then joined Hoechst Australia Limited as a corporate counsel. She has worked at Kraft Foods since 1992, ascending from General Counsel to Senior Counsel and eventually becoming Director of Corporate Affairs (Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific Regions).

Banks served as General Counsel and Secretary of the Company for GlaxoSmithKline Australasia from 2009 to 2014, also assuming the role of Head of Compliance and Risk Management. She moved to George Weston Foods in 2014 where she served as chief counsel and secretary of the company. She was also a member of the Intellectual Property Advisory Council and an Australian Made company director.

Banks were elected as Chisholm’s member to the House of Representatives at the 2016 federal election. Traditionally a marginal seat, Banks won 45.3% of the first preference votes and was elected with 51.2% of the two-party vote, defeating labor candidate Stefanie Perri. She succeeded Anna Burke from Labor, who had held the seat since 1998 and announced her retirement from politics in 2015.

Banks was the only candidate to win a seat held by an opposition party at the 2016 election for the governing Liberal-National Coalition. The knife-edge victory of Banks was critical in enabling the Coalition to eke out a bare majority of one seat after suffering a swing of 14 seats. Banks have served on two House standing committees since her election, dealing with Economics and Social Policy and Legal Affairs. In February 2018, she became chair of the latter committee.

Julia Banks Citizenship controversy

In July 2017, the Greek heritage of Banks led her to come under scrutiny as one of several parliamentary members about the possibility of holding another citizenship by descent. Under section 44 of the Australian Constitution, dual citizens are generally not eligible to be elected or to sit as a Member of Parliament.

The Liberal Party moved to investigate and clarify the citizenship status of banks, as its seat in the House of Representatives was critical to the one-seat majority of the Turnbull government. The Liberal Party later stated that it confirmed that banks are not registered as a Greek citizen with the Greek Embassy in Australia.

Julia Banks Advocacy

In an opinion editorial in The Age in October 2017, Banks re-confirmed its support for same-sex marriage, citing her passion for “about equality for all… because marriage equality is about love, family and fairness” in a Facebook post linked to the article. During a Newstart unemployment allowance radio discussion in May 2018, she was called “out of touch” after she said she was able to live on $40 a day leading to calls for her to be challenged to do so.

Julia Banks Departure from Liberal Party

After the Liberal Party leadership crisis that saw Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull replaced by Scott Morrison in August 2018, Banks announced at the next federal election that she would not contest Chisholm’s seat. She described Turnbull’s ousting from the prime ministry as the “last straw” and cited women in politics as “cultural and gender bias, bullying and intimidation”.

In the statement she posted on Twitter announcing her decision, Banks stated that she was subjected to “bullying and intimidation… both from within my own party and from the Labor party” and was supported by Women’s Minister Kelly O’Dwyer (the member of Higgins ‘ neighboring electorate) who said that workplace bullying is unacceptable in any workplace, including parliament.

Incoming Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg reportedly tried to persuade Banks not to quit, but Banks stated that it would not remain after the “vindictive” behavior and “internal political games of factional party figures, self-proclaimed power-brokers and certain media personalities.” Morrison subsequently voiced concern for the welfare of Banks, promised to stay.

Craig Kelly, who was among the first to call for the spill in support of unsuccessful challenger Peter Dutton, criticized Banks ‘ decision in a Sky News interview and defended politics as a “rough-and-tumble game.” Political journalist Malcolm Farr described Banks ‘ announcement as a “blistering farewell” giving “an indication of this week’s heavy toll of chaos and political thuggery.

Banks announced in a speech on the House of Representatives floor on 27 November 2018 that she would immediately leave the Liberal Party to sit as an independent MP on the crossbench. Her decision further reduced the Morrison government to a minority, lowering its House floor numbers to 73.

Banks slammed the Liberal Party for allegedly moving too far to the right of the political spectrum, arguing that the party had “changed largely because of the actions of the reactionary and regressive right wing who talked about and to themselves rather than listening to the people.”

Banks also stated that if necessary, she would provide the government with confidence and supply; and also stated that her previously announced retirement from politics at the upcoming general election was not a final decision. Banks announced on 31 January 2019 that they would challenge the Minister of Health and former Liberal Party colleague Greg Hunt as an independent at the federal election later that year, seeking to win Flinders ‘ seat.

Julia Banks Net Worth

She has an estimated net worth of $199040.

Julia Banks Interview

Back in November, Julia Banks announced she was quitting the Liberal Party with a pretty explosive speech slamming her colleagues. Last night, she appeared on The Project for an equally explosive interview on everything going wrong in the Liberal Party right now.

Which is quite a lot, if you hadn’t noticed. A pretty staggering number of Liberal Party members have either defected from the party or announced their retirements in recent months: there’s Julia Banks herself, but also Michael Keenan, Kelly O’Dwyer, Nigel Scullion, Christopher Pyne, Steven Ciobo, Julie Bishop, and Ann Sudmalis.

Q: “what on earth is going on in the Liberal Party?”

“Well, that’s a question I think you’d need to ask Scott Morrison,” Banks demurred, before just going ahead and telling us herself. In short: bullying, incompetence, and “an entrenched culture of anti-women behaviour”.

“It wasn’t before I got on the inside [of the Liberal Party] that I realised how bad it was,” Banks said. “I imagined that the Liberal Party would be a slick, corporate machine. It wasn’t that at all. And in relation to women, it was decades behind the business world.”

Julia Banks News

Julia Banks to challenge former colleague Greg Hunt for Flinders at next election.

Ms Banks quit the Liberal Party and moved to the crossbench after Malcolm Turnbull was rolled as prime minister last year.

She told Channel Nine people in Mr Hunt’s electorate were still angry about his involvement. “The people of Flinders knew that he was a prime mover, together with Peter Dutton, in ousting Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop,” she said.

Ms Banks was a star Liberal recruit in 2016 when she unexpectedly won the marginal seat of Chisholm but said the Liberal Party was now dysfunctional and she would run as an independent in Flinders, where she has a family home.

She said she had informed Mr Turnbull of her decision to contest the seat but denied it was an act of revenge against those who brought him down.

“This is about offering the people of Flinders choice,” she said. “As an independent candidate the people of Flinders will have direct access to me and I will be able to have a direct influence, rather than being caught up in what is the paralysis of the major party machines.”

Ms Banks joins a list of high-profile candidates campaigning against sitting Liberal MPs on the issue of climate change.

She said she saw herself as a “sensible centrist” who was socially progressive on climate change as well as the issues of refugees and live exports.

Mr Hunt appeared to take a swipe at Ms Banks by saying he would “never leave” his community.

“I’m passionate about my electorate. It’s where I grew up and where I went to school, where our children were born, where my wife worked, my father worked,” he said.

“It’s always been an immense privilege and a daily responsibility to represent the community I grew up in. I’d never leave my community, I’m just completely passionate about it.”

Mr Hunt defended his record on climate change and also pointed to his support of same-sex marriage.

“My position has been a deep belief in climate change,” he said.

“My electorate voted 70 per cent ‘yes’ for same-sex marriage. I didn’t just vote yes, I was one of the advocates, both for the plebiscite and for the yes vote.”

While no-one is willing to write her off just yet, Liberal sources have cast doubt on Ms Banks’s chances of winning.

Mr Hunt won more than 50 per cent of the primary vote at the last election so if she has any chance of winning, Ms Banks would not only need Labor preferences, but run second to the longstanding incumbent.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said Labor was close to finalising its candidate for Flinders but described Ms Banks as a “formidable” opponent.

“I wouldn’t want to be in Greg Hunt’s shoes today,” he said.

“I think she’s very strong, I think it’s a three–horse race down there.”

PM laughs off independent threat.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had “no doubt” Mr Hunt would be re-elected.

“Greg Hunt has worked like a Trojan for his community from the day he was elected in the seat of Flinders,” he said.

“People in their communities back people who’ve worked for their communities, worked in their communities.”

Mr Morrison laughed off suggestions the Government was being threatened by a wave of independents.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott is being challenged by Olympic skier Zali Steggall in Warringah while former Clean Energy Finance Corporation chief Oliver Yates is running in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s seat of Kooyong.

“One person has decided to stand who was in the Liberal Party and this is apparently ‘a rush’,” Mr Morrison said.

Liberal backbencher and fellow Victorian MP Tim Wilson tried to cast doubt over Ms Banks’s chances in Flinders.

“This is a free country but I guess I question whether this is a wise decision,” he said.

“The polling released by the CFMMEU earlier in the week about the Flinders electorate shows that an independent basically has no chance of being successful.”