Preceded by Gary Gray Name Bruce Billson Prime Minister John Howard Spouse Kate Billson | Preceded by De-Anne Kelly Education RMIT University Preceded by Bob Chynoweth Succeeded by Kelly O'Dwyer | |
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott
Malcolm Turnbull Born 26 January 1966 (age 58)
Albury, New South Wales, Australia ( 1966-01-26 ) Political party Liberal Party of Australia Role Member of the Australian House of Representatives Party Liberal Party of Australia Office Member of the Australian Parliament since 1996 Similar People Josh Frydenberg, Ian Macfarlane, Andrew Robb, Mathias Cormann, Scott Morrison Profiles | ||
Former Abbott Govt minister Bruce Billson censured by the House of Reps in bipartisan motion
Bruce Frederick Billson (born 26 January 1966) is a former politician who was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Dunkley in Victoria from 1996 to 2016. Billson served as the Minister for Small Business from September 2013 to September 2015.
Contents
- Former Abbott Govt minister Bruce Billson censured by the House of Reps in bipartisan motion
- Early life and education
- Ministerial roles
- Retirement from politics
- Personal life
- References
Early life and education
Billson was born in Albury, New South Wales, and moved to Seaford, Victoria as a child. He was educated at Monterey High School in Frankston North and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He was Manager of Corporate Development for the Shire of Hastings, a ministerial adviser to the Victorian Minister for Natural Resources, and policy adviser to the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Senator Rod Kemp, before entering politics.
Ministerial roles
Billson was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2004. In 2005, he was also appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, and, in 2006, he was promoted to Minister for Veterans' Affairs – a position he retained until the defeat of the Howard government in the 2007 federal election.
In 2007, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. In 2009, he was then appointed the Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities. and after the 2010 election he was appointed Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs.
Following the 2013 election he was sworn into the cabinet as the Minister for Small Business.
Retirement from politics
Following the leadership spill that saw Malcolm Turnbull become Prime Minister, Billson was dropped from the new Ministry upon the ascension of the Turnbull Government. On 24 November 2015, he announced he would retire from politics at the 2016 federal election.
He is currently serving as the executive chairman of the Franchise Council of Australia. In August 2017, Billson admitted he had received a salary from the FCA several months before his retirement, which he had not declared on the register of members' interests. Billson apologised to the Clerk of the House for the omission, but claimed his directorship was not concealed and there was no conflict of interest.
Personal life
He is married to Kate and has four children: Alexander, Zoe, Madeline and Isabella.