Julie Collins

Biography

Julie Maree Collins is an Australian politician and member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She has been the Member for Franklin since the 2007 federal election and currently serves as the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness, and Minister for Small Business in the Albanese ministry. Collins was born on July 3, 1971, in Hobart, Tasmania, and grew up in a housing commission property. Her mother remarried, and Collins was adopted by her stepfather Andrew Collins. She attended Cosgrove High School but had to discontinue her studies due to financial reasons. After the 1987 federal election, she began working for the ALP as an administrative assistant. Collins worked for various Tasmanian Labor MPs and state government departments before entering parliament.

Collins served as state president of Young Labor in 1996 and state secretary of the ALP from 2006 to 2007. She unsuccessfully stood for the seat of Denison in the 2006 state election but was successfully elected as the Member for Franklin in the 2007 federal election. Collins was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services in the First Gillard ministry in 2010 and Minister for Community Services, Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, and Minister for the Status of Women in the Second Gillard ministry in 2011. In the Second Rudd ministry, Collins became the Minister for Housing and Homelessness in addition to her other responsibilities. She remained in these positions until the defeat of the Rudd government in September 2013.

Collins is a member of Labor Left and has three children with her husband Ian Hubbard. In 2021, Collins was identified as one of only four federal MPs who did not graduate from high school.