Bruce Frederick Billson (born 26 January 1966) is a former politician who was a

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member of 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 o ...

representing the Division of Dunkley in

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from 1996 to 2016.About Bruce – Bruce Billson: Member for Dunkley
Billson served as the Minister for Small Business from September 2013 to September 2015.

Early life and education

Billson was born in

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and moved to

Seaford, Victoria Seaford is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Seaford recorded a population of 17,215 at the . History Sea ...

as a child. He was educated at Monterey High School in Frankston North and the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering cla ...

. 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.

Career

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 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 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 In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (l ...

that saw

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

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. On 22 March 2016, it was announced that he would serve as the executive chairman of the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA). 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. Although cleared of breaching ministerial guidelines, an inquiry conducted by the House of Representatives' Standing Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests recommended in March 2018 that Billson be censured for failing to disclose receiving a salary for the FCA, and for undertaking work for the organisation through his consultancy business before leaving parliament. The Committee's report stated that Billson's "decision to accept the role with FCA while he was a member falls below the standards expected of a member of the house". On 27 March the House of Representatives passed a motion censuring Billson. Beginning 11 March 2021 he took up a government role as the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, replacing

Kate Carnell Anne Katherine Carnell (née Knowlman; born 30 May 1955) is an Australian businesswoman and former Liberal Party politician, who served as the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) from 1995 to 2000. Early life and p ...

. The news site Crikey noted that the role of Small Business Ombudsman had been initially created by Billson while he was the Minister for Small Business.

Board Roles

Executive Chair – Franchise Council of Australia Independent Non Executive Director – Judo Capital

Personal life

He is married to Kate and has four children: Alexander, Zoe, Madeline and Isabella.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Billson, Bruce 1966 births Abbott Government Government ministers of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dunkley Members of the Cabinet of Australia People from Albury, New South Wales RMIT University alumni 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians People from the City of Frankston