Julie Owens

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Julie Owens
MP
Julie Owens Portrait 2007.jpg
Owens in 2007
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Parramatta
Assumed office
9 October 2004
Preceded byRoss Cameron
Personal details
Born (1958-10-17) 17 October 1958 (age 63)
Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLabor
Alma materQueensland Conservatorium of Music
University of Sydney
OccupationPerforming arts executive
Websitewww.julieowens.com.au

Julie Ann Owens (born 17 October 1958) is an Australian politician who has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 2004, representing the Division of Parramatta, New South Wales.

Early life[]

Owens was born on 17 October 1958 in Rockhampton, Queensland.[1] Her family moved to Brisbane as a result of her father's career in the army.[2] Owens attended Everton Park State High School. She went on to attend the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, studying piano under Nancy Weir and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Music.[3]

Owens was a production manager at the Lyric Opera of Queensland from 1985 to 1989,[1] where she was involved in productions of Aida, La bohème and Madama Butterfly.[3] She later worked as a senior program officer at the Australia Council from 1989 to 1993 and CEO of the Association of Independent Record Labels from 2000 to 2004. She was also a small-business owner and completed an MBA at the University of Sydney.[1]

Politics[]

Owens' first foray into politics came in 1996, when she stood as the Labor candidate in Division of North Sydney. She was given very little chance of winning, given that North Sydney has long been a conservative stronghold, and was soundly defeated by Liberal Joe Hockey.

In the 2004 election campaign, Owens ran against the incumbent Liberal Ross Cameron. The campaign was notable for the admission by Cameron, a prominent family values campaigner, that he had had an extramarital affair, and Owens won the seat on preferences, despite a swing against the Labor Party in New South Wales.[4]

Owens is a backbencher and has been a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from December 2004.[1] Although her seat was made notionally Liberal in a redistribution ahead of the 2007 election, she did not only retained her seat, but recorded a healthy swing of seven points. She won a third term in 2010 with only a small swing against her, and narrowly won a fourth term in 2013 even as Labor lost government. Her 2013 victory marked only the second time (her initial win being the first) that the Liberals or their predecessors have been in government without holding Parramatta.

Following the resignation of Labor MP Craig Thomson as chair of the Economics Committee, Owens was appointed head of the Committee.[1]

On 28 October 2021, Owens announced in Parliament that she would not contest the next election.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Ms Julie Owens MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Julie Owens". Q&A. ABC. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Maiden speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 2 December 2004. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  4. ^ "NSW Division – Parramatta". Election 2004. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  5. ^ "Federal Labor MP Julie Owens won't re-contest seat of Parramatta at next election". Sky News. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.

 

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Parramatta
2004–present 		Incumbent
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