Joshua Hamilton Wilson (born 5 June 1972) is an Australian politician. He is the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member for

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, serving from 2 July 2016 until his resignation on 10 May 2018 as a part of the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis and then since the 2018 Fremantle by-election.

Early life

Wilson was born on 5 June 1972 in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, London. As a child he lived in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

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, New York before moving to Fremantle.

Education

Wilson has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

, and a Master of Arts (Honours) from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

Career

Before going into politics, Wilson served as an Associate Lecturer at Curtin University, a paralegal and litigation project manager, a freelance journalist as well as a travel writer. Wilson was a councillor of the City of Fremantle from 2009 to 2016, was Deputy Mayor of Fremantle from 2011 and also worked as a staffer to his predecessor as the member for Fremantle,

Melissa Parke Melissa Parke (born 11 August 1966) is a former Australian Labor Party politician and UN human rights lawyer, who served as Member for the federal electoral Division of Fremantle in the Australian House of Representatives from 2007 to 2016. In ...

. During his time as Deputy Mayor, Wilson initiated the "Fremantle Forever" campaign which opposed local government amalgamations, worked on economic development and revitalisation, and introduced an Indigenous employment target. He initially lost preselection to contest the seat in 2016 to Chris Brown, but he became the candidate when Brown was forced to stand aside after failing to declare spent convictions. Wilson was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

for the seat of

in the 2016 federal election with 40.99% of the primary vote, and 57.52% of the

two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

. On 9 May 2018, Wilson announced his resignation from the House of Representatives following the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

ruling that Senator

Katy Gallagher Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gover ...

was ineligible to contest the 2016 election. Like Gallagher, Wilson had failed to renounce his British citizenship before nomination in the 2016 federal election. Wilson was re-elected in the subsequent 2018 Fremantle by-election.

Personal life

Wilson lives with his wife and three children in Fremantle.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Josh 1972 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Fremantle English emigrants to Australia People who lost British citizenship Labor Left politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Western Australian local councillors Deputy mayors of places in Australia