Representative Justine Elliot Contact information

Maria Justine Elliot is an Australian politician who has dedicated her life to public service. She was born on 29 July 1967 in Brisbane, Queensland. Her father, Bob Borsellino, was a journalist and political activist who led efforts for an inquiry into the killing of the Balibo Five. Both of her grandfathers were World War II veterans.

Elliot attended Nambour State High School and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland, majoring in English and history, and a graduate diploma in human resource management and industrial relations at Griffith University. She worked as an officer with the Queensland Police from 1990 to 1997 before moving to New South Wales and working at the Department of Juvenile Justice from 2002 to 2003.

Elliot joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in 1995 and served as president of its Tweed Coast branch from 2003 to 2004. In a significant upset at the 2004 election, Elliot defeated the National Party’s Larry Anthony, a minister in the Howard government, to become the Member of Parliament for the New South Wales seat of Richmond. She was only the second Labor member ever to win the seat and was also the only Labor challenger to defeat a Coalition MP in a rural seat.

Elliot served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing from 2004 to 2007. She was appointed as Minister for Ageing in the First Rudd government from 2007 to 2010 and as a parliamentary secretary in the Gillard government from 2010 to 2013. She retained Richmond for Labor at the 2013 election, even as the Coalition opposition defeated the incumbent Labor government, and won with an increased majority at the 2016 and 2019 elections.

Elliot has served on various committees during her time in parliament, including the Joint Statutory Law Enforcement Committee, the Joint Standing Treaties Committee, and the House of Representatives Standing Committees of Regional Australia, Publications, and Petitions. She has been the Chair of the Federal Labor Country Caucus since 2014 and was the Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Petitions from 2013 to 2016 and again since 2019. Elliot has also served on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity since 2016 and the Law Enforcement Committee since 2019.

Elliot is married to Craig Elliot, who is also a former police officer, and they have two children together. As of 2018, they lived in the rural locality of Nunderi. Her husband was the ALP’s candidate in Tweed at the 2019 New South Wales state election. Elliot continues to serve as the Member of Parliament for Richmond, having been re-elected in the 2022 federal election.