Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin language, Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone ...

. Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

., Australian Parliament House Biographies; 19 August 2017 Wilkie served with the Australian Army from 1980 to 2004. An officer with the

Royal Australian Infantry Corps The Royal Australian Infantry Corps (RA Inf) is the parent corps for all infantry regiments of the Australian Army. It was established on 14 December 1948, with its Royal Corps status being conferred by His Majesty King George VI. At her corona ...

who had earlier commanded a company of the

6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in Brisbane, Queensland, on 6 June 1965 and has since then served in a number of overseas deployments and conf ...

,; 19 August 2017 at the time of his entry to public life Wilkie was posted to Australia's Office of National Assessments as an

intelligence analyst Intelligence analysis is the application of individual and collective cognitive methods to weigh data and test hypotheses within a secret socio-cultural context. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the form of deliberate ...

. In 2003, in the lead-up to the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, he resigned from his position at ONA because he feared the humanitarian consequences of invasion, such as

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

using his weapons of mass destruction or assisting terrorists. Following his resignation he said: Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction program is very disjointed and contained by the regime that's been in place since the last Gulf War. And there is no hard intelligence linking the Iraqi regime to al-Qaeda in any substantial or worrisome way." He opposed Australia's contribution to the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including ...

under the Howard government. Wilkie later argued the Iraq War was based on a "lie".; ABC News; 7 July 2016 Wilkie has been active in politics since 2003. He was a Greens candidate for the federal

Division of Bennelong The Division of Bennelong is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named after Woollarawarre Bennelong, an Aboriginal man befriended by the first Governor of New South Wal ...

in the 2004 federal election and for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in Tasmania at the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

. In 2010 he stood as an independent candidate for the state seat of Denison at the Tasmanian state election, narrowly missing out on the final vacancy. Later in the year, again as an independent candidate, he ran for the federal seat of Denison at the 2010 federal election and won, finishing third on the primary vote but winning the seat after the distribution of preferences. Wilkie finished first on the primary vote at both the 2013 federal election and 2016 federal election, increasing his margin each time. In 2019, the Division of Denison was replaced by the

Division of Clark The Division of Clark is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Tasmania, first contested at the 2019 federal election. Geography Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are determined at redistributions by a redistribut ...

, which Wilkie won at the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...

with a margin of 22.19%.

Early life and education

Wilkie attended St Gregory's College, Campbelltown and later trained at the

Royal Military College, Duntroon lit: Learning promotes strength , established = , type = Military college , chancellor = , head_label = Commandant , head = Brigadier Ana Duncan , principal = , city = Campbell , state ...

Wilkie, 2004 p. 2 and graduated in 1984. He joined the Young Liberals while a cadet. He also studied at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

, and holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree, a Graduate Diploma of Management, and a Graduate Diploma of Defence Studies. After graduation and being stationed in Brisbane, he joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

before allowing his membership to lapse. His military career spanned 1980–2001 and he rose to the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

.Wilkie, 2004, back cover He was seconded to the ONA, an Australian

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of inf ...

, from 1999 until late 2000. After a stint with US defence company

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitali ...

, Wilkie returned to the ONA shortly after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

Military career, 1980–2003

Wilkie joined the Army in 1980, and was first stationed in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. He served in the

and achieved the rank of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

. He was discharged in 2001.

Opposition to Iraq War

In the aftermath of the September 11 Terror Attacks, the United States called upon Australia to assist in enforcing the 1991 Gulf War peace treaty which had been repeatedly breached by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Iraq failed to comply with demands to allow unfettered arms inspections, and the Howard Government elected to send forces to support the

. While the Government was considering the case for war, Wilkie was asked to report on humanitarian considerations. According to a leaked report published in the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald ...

'', in December 2002 Wilkie submitted to the government an Office of National Assessments report on the humanitarian implications of war in Iraq. In the report he cautioned against unpredictable and potentially serious humanitarian consequences of war with Iraq, such as the use of weapons of mass destruction against civilians. In response to widespread opposition to the war, Wilkie gave extensive television interviews and accepted numerous offers of public speaking engagements. He subsequently gave evidence to official British and Australian inquiries into the government's case for involvement in the Iraq war. In 2004, Wilkie published ''Axis of Deceit'', an account of the reasons for his decision and its results. He describes his views on the nature of intelligence agencies and the analyst's work, the history of the Iraq war, the untruths of politicians and the attempts to suppress the truth. Following Britain's 2016

Chilcot Report The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot) Howard rejected Wilkie's proposition and called him "irrational", telling the media: "Andrew Wilkie said the Iraq invasion was responsible for the Bali attack of 2005. What about the Bali attack of 2002? And he blamed it he Iraq Waron the

Lindt Cafe siege The Lindt Cafe siege was a terrorist attack that occurred on 15–16 December 2014 when a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café in the APA Building in Martin Place, Sydney, ...

. I mean, this is irrational."

Resignation from ONA (2003)

On 11 March 2003, Wilkie resigned from the ONA, stating that while it was likely that Iraq did possess weapons of mass destruction, its program in this area was contained, that international sanctions were having an effect, and therefore an invasion was premature and also reckless in potentially provoking Saddam Hussein to use those weapons and possibly even begin supporting terrorism. He told the ABC: "I think that invading Iraq at this time would be wrong. For a start, Iraq does not pose a security threat to any other country at this point in time. Its military is very weak, it's a fraction of the size of the military at the time of the invasion of Kuwait. Its weapons of mass destruction program is very disjointed and contained by the regime that's been in place since the last Gulf War. And there is no hard intelligence linking the Iraqi regime to al-Qaeda in any substantial or worrisome way." Wilkie later told the press that in the lead up to his resignation he had increasingly encountered ethical conflict between his duty as an intelligence officer and his "respect for the truth". In 2016, after appearing at the Chilcot enquiry, Wilkie said the notion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and co-operated with terrorists had been "a lie ... No wonder John Howard and

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

and

George W Bush George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

do stand accused of war crimes". He linked the

2005 Bali bombings The 2005 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist suicide bomb and a series of car bombs and attacks that occurred on 1 October 2005, in Bali, Indonesia. Bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran Beach Resort and in Kuta away, both in south B ...

and the 2014 Lindt Cafe siege to Australia's participation in the invasion of Iraq.

Political career, 2004–present

Candidacy for Australian Greens (2004–2008)

Wilkie became a member of the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and t ...

by 2004, and stood as their candidate for the seat of

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong ser ...

in that year's federal election, running against sitting Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

. He was a supporter of the

'Not happy, John!' campaign The Not happy, John!' campaign was an Australian political campaign to oppose the re-election of Prime Minister John Howard as member for Bennelong in the 2004 Australian federal election. The title of the campaign is based on the popular televi ...

which ran during the election campaign. Polling 16.37% of the primary vote, Wilkie achieved the fifth-highest vote percentage for a Greens candidate across the nation at the time. This result was a considerable increase from the Greens' previous election result in Bennelong of 4.03%. Although Wilkie's vote was nowhere near enough to win the seat, there was an overall swing of 3.18% against Howard, who achieved a primary vote of only 49.89%, which resulted in the seat being decided on preferences. Wilkie did not run again for Bennelong in the

, instead running as the Greens' second Tasmanian candidate for the

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

, behind the party's federal leader,

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasma ...

. He was not elected. He resigned from the party in 2008, criticising it for a lack of professionalism.

Member of Parliament (2010–present)

; Gillard-Rudd Government Wilkie stood as an independent candidate in the state

Division of Denison The Division of Denison was an Australian electoral division in Tasmania, before being replaced by the Division of Clark as part of a 2016–17 redistribution. History The division was one of the five established when the former Division o ...

, based around central Hobart, in the

2010 Tasmanian state election The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The 12-year incumbent Labor government, led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett, won a fourth consecutive term against the Libera ...

. He won 8.44 per cent of first preference votes, and was beaten by 315 votes by Liberal candidate

Elise Archer Elise Nicole Archer (; born 25 March 1971) is an Australian lawyer and politician who is currently the 63rd Attorney General of Tasmania. She is also Minister for Justice, Corrections, Environment and Parks and the Arts. She was a Hobart city ...

after distribution of preferences. Wilkie stood as an independent for the federal Division of Denison, which has the same boundaries as the state division, in the 2010 federal election and won more than 20 per cent of the primary vote. The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

declared Wilkie the winner on election night, predicting that Wilkie would be vaulted into second place on Green preferences and ultimately take the seat on Liberal preferences. On the third count, he picked up enough Green preferences to put him in second place, ahead of the Liberal candidate. On the fourth count, more than 79 percent of the Liberal candidate's preferences flowed to Wilkie, allowing him to win the seat with just over 51 per cent of the two-candidate-preferred vote. Reportedly, Wilkie benefited from what was perceived to have been a lacklustre campaign by

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 ...

's candidate, Jonathan Jackson, the son of former longtime state Labor minister

Judy Jackson Judith Louise Jackson (born 31 August 1947 in ) is an Australian former Labor Party politician, in Tasmania from 1986 to 2006. She was the first female attorney-general of Tasmania and also served as the Minister for Environment in the Tasmani ...

; Labor lost almost a quarter of its primary vote from 2007, and Labor theoretically tallied a two-party vote of more than 65 percent. Following the election, he declared that he would back the Labor minority government, in return for

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

's administration committing $340 million to the Royal Hobart Hospital and a commitment to reduce problem gambling. In contrast the Coalition offered A$1 billion in funding for the same hospital in their offer to Wilkie, which was perceived by Wilkie as "almost reckless". Wilkie described this as being part of the evidence that Labor would better be able to offer a more stable, competent and ethical government than the Coalition. The agreement to support the government only extended to issues of supply and no confidence motions. Wilkie was unexpectedly admitted to hospital on 12 November 2010 to have his

gall bladder In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath the liver, although ...

removed. This did not interfere with his ability to attend Parliamentary sittings and he was present at the debate on same-sex marriage on 15 November, where he seconded the motion raised by Greens member

Adam Bandt Adam Paul Bandt (born 11 March 1972) is an Australian politician and former industrial lawyer who is the leader of the Australian Greens and federal MP for Melbourne. Previously, he served as co-deputy leader of the Greens from 2012 to 2015 an ...

. In April 2011, during push for gambling reform initiated by Wilkie,

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,00 ...

media reported allegations by a former Duntroon army cadet that in 1983 Wilkie had forced junior cadets to salute to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

on the 50th anniversary of the latter's rise to power. In response, Wilkie said he had been "involved in bastardisation of teenage army cadets" at Duntroon during the 1980s, and apologised for this "inappropriate behaviour", but could not recall the specific incident alleged. With regard to the allegation and its publication, he accused pro- Pokies advocates of running a smear campaign against him. On 21 January 2012, Wilkie announced that he was withdrawing his support for the Labor government after it broke the agreement he had signed with Julia Gillard to implement mandatory pre-commitment for all poker machines by 2014. He stated that he would support the government's alternative plan to trial pre-commitment in the ACT and require that pre-commitment technology be installed in all poker machines built from 2013, but that this fell short of what he had been promised in return for supporting the government. Gillard and

Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs The Minister for Social Services is the Australian federal government minister who oversees Australian Government social services, including mental health, families and children's policy, and support for carers and people with disabilities, and ...

Jenny Macklin Jennifer Louise Macklin (born 29 December 1953) is an Australian former politician. She was elected to federal parliament at the 1996 federal election and served as the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2001 to 2006, und ...

argued that there was not enough support 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 ...

for Wilkie's preferred option for it to be passed, and that they had been advised it was technically infeasible to implement mandatory commitment within the time frame he had specified. In making his announcement, Wilkie stated that he would only support motions of no confidence against the government "in the event of serious misconduct" and would "consider budget measures on their merits". ; Abbott-Turnbull Government Wilkie was re-elected in the 2013 federal election, gaining a swing of 15 points to increase his majority to 65 percent. In October 2014, Wilkie wrote to the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...

, seeking to prosecute Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

and the 19 members of his cabinet for crimes against humanity, with particular concerns relating to the treatment of asylum seekers. ; Morrison Government In February 2020, Wilkie and fellow MP

George Christensen George Robert Christensen (born 30 June 1978) is a former Australian politician and former journalist who was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, as the member of parliament (MP) for the division of Dawson. He ...

travelled to the UK to meet Australian Wikileaks founder

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army int ...

. Both MPs called for Assange to be released.

Political views

In the 2010 Tasmanian state election, Wilkie made the removal of

poker machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...

s his primary campaign issue. He strongly opposed the Gunns pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. Wilkie is a supporter of

voluntary euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms of ...

, provided that there are safeguards in place. He is also in favour of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

and access to abortion. He supported a National Broadband Network, and also opposed the Howard Government's

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choice ...

industrial relations reforms. During Wilkie's maiden speech to federal parliament on 30 September 2010, he called for withdrawal of Australian troops from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. He said Australia should be more willing to say "no" more often to the United States, and that there could be no hope for peace in Afghanistan until foreign troops are withdrawn: "No-one should be fooled by the Australian Government's periodic efforts to tinker around the edges with Australia's commitment to Afghanistan" and that "The reality is that the best plan the Australian Government can come up with so far is simply to continue to support whatever the US Government comes up with and that alone is no plan—it's just reinforcing failure." Wilkie's comments came amid opposition calls for more support for Australia's troops in Afghanistan. During his speech Wilkie also canvassed his push for legislation to protect

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

s, measures to tackle problem gambling and a more humane approach to asylum seekers. In March 2011, he called Liberal MPs

Cory Bernardi Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party ...

and

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...

"a disgrace to high office", calling on party leader

to sack them both. In a speech to the House of Representatives, he spoke of the "racism that eats at the Liberal Party".

Pokies and pre-commitment

Wilkie campaigned heavily against

s (colloquially "pokies") at the 2010 federal election, and immediately began forging ties with independent anti-pokies Senator Nick Xenophon. Wilkie claimed that problem gamblers in Australia lose $5 billion each year on pokies. The Labor government gave two commitments regarding pokies in exchange for Wilkie's support. The first was mandatory " pre-commitment" technology, which required a better to commit how much they were willing to bet before starting. The second commitment was to introduce $1 maximum bet per spin machines that would not require pre-commitment. Wilkie argued these $1 maximum machines would be safer. The Abbott

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

opposed the plans, with Abbott saying "it is not

policy" and it will be "expensive and ineffective". According to polling, Wilkie's proposals were supported by a clear majority of voters across the spectrum. Wilkie and Xenophon argued that "$12 billion a year is lost on the pokies. 100,000 Australians are problem gamblers and an additional 200,000 are significantly at risk of developing a full-blown addiction", and that the legislation is necessary to "

elp Elp is a small village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, and lies about 15 km south of Assen. The village was first mentioned in 1362 as "in Elpe". The etymology is unclear. Elp was home t ...

those who sometimes lose up to $1200 an hour on the pokies." The Labor government withdrew their promised support for Wilkies's plan when their strength in parliament improved through a change of Speaker. The plan came under sustained attack from clubs, hotels and other businesses which financially benefit from pokies. Xenophon responded by accusing them of misrepresenting plans and creating hype around the issue. Strategy papers erroneously placed on the Clubs Queensland public website seemed to indicate that clubs were deliberately and purposefully exaggerating the impact that the pre-commitment reforms will have on their services. The same papers outlined some strategies that the clubs could use to exploit loopholes in the proposed reform. The

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL) aligned themselves with the campaign in opposing the pre-commitment plans, as did some prominent

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

(AFL) people. Commentators from the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

gave planned political arguments without disclosure during commentary of a Semi-final NRL game, prompting the

Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Aus ...

(ACMA) to investigate, stating "Channel Nine broadcast political material without adequately identifying it as such during the NRL first preliminary final". One of the accused commentators stated that the remarks were a "directive from up top that it be read by at least somebody". Investigations were predicted to take months.

Andrew Demetriou Andrew Demetriou (born 14 April 1961) is an Australian businessman, sports administrator, and former Australian rules football player who was chief executive officer (CEO) of the Australian Football League (AFL) up to June 2014. Demetriou play ...

, chief executive officer of the AFL, rejected suggestions that the AFL was joining Clubs Australia in their media campaign despite opposition to the plan by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire. Other high-profile club bosses including Jeff Kennett (Hawthorn) and David Smorgon (Bulldogs), and also stated "The fellow from Clubs Australia, I don't even know his name, but please, stop talking on our behalf, just shut up, that'd be a good help". Activist group

GetUp! GetUp! is an independent Progressivism, progressive Australian political activism, political activist group. It was launched in August 2005 to encourage Internet activism in Australia, though it has increasingly engaged in Community organizing, ...

attempted to counter the anti-pre-commitment campaign by running political commercials during the NRL grand final but all three major commercial television stations refused to air more of them. On the 28th of November, Wilkie introduced a bill targeting loot boxes in video games, stating they " room childrenfor future gambling". The bill would make all games targeting at children that include any form of in-game gambling be mandatorally rated R18+, restricting their purchase to exclusively adults.

Personal life

Wilkie was married to a fellow army officer

Simone Wilkie Major General Simone Louise Wilkie, (née Burt, born 1964) is a retired Australian Army officer who was the Australian Deputy National Commander in the War in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012. She was Assistant Chief of Staff to General David Petra ...

(née Burt) from 1991 to 2003. He married Charlie Burton in 2004, with whom he has two daughters. However, they separated in 2012 and divorced the following year, with Wilkie citing stress from the 2010–2013 hung parliament as the main cause of the breakdown. Wilkie became engaged to Dr Clare Ballingall in late 2018, and the pair married in June 2020.

References

Notes

Sources

* (''The story of the intelligence officer who risked all to tell the truth about WMD and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

'': cover)

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkie, Andrew 1961 births Australian Army officers Australian Greens candidates Australian republicans Australian whistleblowers Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Intelligence analysts Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Denison Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Clark People from Tamworth, New South Wales Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates 21st-century Australian politicians