Tim Wilson (Australian politician)


Timothy Robert Wilson is an Australian politician who serves as the Federal Member for Goldstein in the Australian House of Representatives. He was elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2019, and is currently the Chair of the Standing Committee on Economics.
Before entering politics, Wilson was a policy director at the Institute of Public Affairs from 2007 to 2013 and Australia's Human Rights Commissioner from 2014 to 2016. Wilson was a key advocate for Australia adopting marriage equality, is an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party, and has been active in debates on tax policy.

Early life

Wilson attended Mount Martha Primary School and The Peninsula School, Mount Eliza. Wilson completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Diplomacy and Trade at Monash University. He was elected President of the Monash University Student Union Caulfield in 2002 and again in 2003. Wilson also has a Graduate Certificate in Energy and Carbon Management from Murdoch University and has completed executive education at the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Worldwide Academy and at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.
Wilson was employed by the Institute of Public Affairs for seven years, serving as Director of Climate Change Policy and of Intellectual Property and Free Trade. During this time, he argued against plain cigarette packaging, and to vote against the proposed local government referendum in Australia. He was a vocal critic of the Human Rights Commission and during his time at the IPA, the Institute called for the abolition of the Commission.
Wilson served as Australia's Human Rights Commissioner between February 2014 and February 2016. On appointment to the Human Rights Commission, Wilson resigned his membership of the Liberal Party. During the term of his appointment he argued for changes to Section 18C of the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act, calling the prosecution of broadcaster Andrew Bolt for vilification of indigenous Australians an infringement on Bolt's right to freedom of speech.
In July 2020, it was revealed that, while a commissioner, he had used his Commission email account to invite a prominent international speaker for an Institute of Public Affairs event, as well as arrange his attendance at the free market think-tank's functions, and to obtain from someone an endorsement in support of his campaign to gain Liberal preselection for Parliament. Wilson acknowledged that he had opposed release of the emails, which had been sought through a freedom of information application, but considered them "utterly irrelevant" and a "non-story”, saying his support of the IPA was publicly disclosed and well known throughout his term. Furthermore Wilson stated he originally halted the release of the emails to toy with the freedom of information applicant to "make sure the applicant thought there was something salacious in these emails only to be disappointed that they were utterly irrelevant and they’d wasted their time, and sadly that of the hard-working people at the Australian Human Rights Commission, who had to compile and redact these documents".

Politics

In 2008, Wilson, then a Liberal Party member, unsuccessfully ran for the position of deputy mayor of the City of Melbourne in a joint ticket with Peter McMullin, a former Labor mayor of Geelong.

45th Parliament (2016-2019)

On 19 March 2016, Wilson was preselected as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Goldstein over Denis Dragovic by two votes. He was subsequently elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 election. Wilson served on the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport, Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources and the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs
During his first term in Parliament, Wilson was a leading agitator against the Turnbull Government’s attempts to ratify an extradition treaty with China. The treaty was later abandoned. Following the announcement of a deadline for Australians to opt out of the MyHealthRecord scheme, Wilson publicly opted-out and called for the Government to make ‘opt-in’ the default position.
Same-sex marriage debate
Wilson had been a public advocate for marriage equality for more than a decade.
The Liberal Party’s 2016 election platform promised a public vote on marriage equality for same-sex couples. Wilson supported the legislation for a public plebiscite on the basis that it was the fastest route to reform.
The Turnbull Government announced it would hold the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey in 2017, Wilson opposed efforts to block it in the High Court and continued as a prominent Liberal campaigner for the ‘YES’ vote during the plebiscite process. After the plebiscite returned a 62 per cent ‘YES’ result in favour of marriage for same-sex couples, Wilson proposed to his partner while delivering a speech on the Marriage Amendment Bill 2017 in Parliament.
The Morrison Government and franking credits campaign
When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called a spill of leadership positions in 2018, Wilson supported Turnbull against Peter Dutton. After Turnbull later resigned, Wilson joined with his Liberal Party colleagues to elect Scott Morrison as the new Liberal leader and Prime Minister.
Morrison appointed Wilson as Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics. Under Wilson’s tenure, the Committee launched an inquiry into Labor’s proposed changes to refundable franking credits, holding a series of public hearings around the country. Wilson argued that Labor’s policy constituted a ‘retiree tax’ that would damage the savings and superannuation balances of up to one million retirees.
In February 2019, Labor accused Wilson of improperly interfering with the committee's inquiry into dividend imputations and had committed a contempt of parliament. The Speaker found that while no contempt had been committed, Wilson had not honoured committee conventions. Specifically, the Speaker criticised Wilson for having a private website for the inquiry that was badged as official but which solicited submissions and attendees at public hearings from the perspective of opposing Labor policy, and for arranging inquiry meetings to coincide with the meetings of an activist group that was opposing Labor's policy. Wilson was also criticised for involving a relative, Geoff Wilson, in the process.

46th Parliament (2019-)

In July 2020, Wilson launched a new book: . It explored the origins of Australian liberalism and argued that home ownership is critical to build and maintain a constituency for the liberal philosophy. The book was described by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as one that "prods, stirs and challenges us, but ultimately asks us to think about how we will leave future generations of Australians a country that is prosperous, fairer and where the bonds between us all are strengthened."

Personal life

Wilson is openly gay, an advocate for same-sex marriage, and was an early supporter of the Safe Schools Coalition Australia. Wilson supports same-sex marriage in Australia and has married his partner since the laws have changed. Regarding Wilson's religious beliefs, he has said "I'm more of an agnostic, but I prefer to say that I haven't found God but I'm on a journey and I may one day find God." Wilson proposed to his partner in a speech during early debate on the Marriage Amendment Bill 2017 on Monday 4 December in the Australian parliament, while his partner watched his speech from the public gallery. This proposal went viral on the internet and made news bulletins worldwide; the proposal was recorded in Hansard, as was his partner's affirmative answer. On 11 March 2018, the two married.
Wilson has opted out of the My Health Record system.