Julie Bishop, Australian lawyer and politician, 38th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curtin from 1998 to 2019. She has been the chancellor of the Australian National University since January 2020.
Bishop was born in Lobethal, South Australia, and studied law at the University of Adelaide. Prior to entering politics she worked as a commercial lawyer in Perth, Western Australia; she was the local managing partner of Clayton Utz. She was a delegate to the 1998 constitutional convention, and also served as a director of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and as a member of the Murdoch University senate. Bishop was elected to parliament at the 1998 federal election, representing the Division of Curtin in Perth's western suburbs. In the Howard Government, she served as Minister for Ageing (2003–2006), Minister for Education and Science (2006–2007), and Minister for Women (2006–2007).
After the Coalition lost the 2007 election, Bishop was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party. She was the first woman to hold the position, and was re-elected to the post at multiple leadership spills following her initial election. During her time as deputy, there were three different Liberal leaders—Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull, and Tony Abbott. When the Coalition returned to power at the 2013 election, Bishop was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Abbott Government. She was Australia's first female foreign minister. Issues that arose during her tenure included changes to the Australian foreign aid program, the international military intervention against ISIL, the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and the execution of Australian citizens by Indonesia.
In August 2018, Peter Dutton challenged Turnbull for the leadership of the Liberal Party, due to dissatisfaction from the party's conservative wing. Turnbull defeated Dutton in a leadership ballot, but tensions continued to mount and the party voted in favour of holding a second spill; Bishop chose to be a candidate. In the second vote, Bishop was eliminated in the first round by Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison, with Morrison elected as party leader (and thus prime minister) in the second round. She declined to retain the foreign affairs portfolio in the Morrison Ministry, instead moving to the backbench. Bishop retired from politics on 11 April 2019, before the impending federal election.On 1 January 2020, Bishop commenced her term as chancellor of the Australian National University. She is the first woman to be in this position.