Julie Bishop’s new global career of being a powerful influencer, Chancellor and advocate

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has carved herself a frenetic yet lucrative career after politics, mixing with some of the most powerful and popular figures across the world.

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has carved herself a lucrative globetrotting career post politics, mixing high finance with high fashion.

Her frenetic Instagram feed tells the story: one day she’s promoting department store David Jones, propped outside its Adelaide branch in a designer frock, the next she’s at a mining event in Perth chatting about the “geostrategic impact of critical minerals, geopolitics and WA’s place in the world”.

Then there’s roles at one of the world’s most prestigious foreign affairs think tanks, the US-based Council on Foreign Relations, chairing the Australian arm of King Charles’ charity, The Prince’s Trust – a gig that got her an invitation to the coronation – and the chancellorship of Canberra’s Australian National University.

Julie Bishop in her office for the final time before leaving at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

That’s before taking in private sector roles that include her lobbying business, Julie Bishop & Partners, giving strategic advice to Perth mining services company Mineral Resources and a controversial stint on the board of global aid contracting giant Palladium.

Julie Bishop and Deputy Chair of Prince's Trust Australia, Ian Smith, meets Rita Ora after her performance at the Prince's Trust Global Gala in New York. Picture: Instagram

Politician-turned-influencer Julie Bishop (pictured) promoting her stay at the five-star Gansevoort Meatpacking hotel in New York City. Picture: Instagram

Not that all the private sector gigs have gone well – she was also an advisor to the Greensill financial empire run by Bundaberg sugar farmer Lex Greensill until shortly before it imploded, and has also served as an advisor to artificial intelligence company Afiniti, whose founder was forced to step down after he was accused of sexual assault.

It’s a life that involves juggling four separate portfolios: fashion, lobbying, corporate advisory and community work.

Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop walks down the stairs with Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Parliament House in Canberra in February 2019. Picture: AFP

FASHION JULIE

Who: David Jones, Estee Lauder

What she gets: free clothes and front rows at fashion shows

Before her surprise resignation from parliament in 2019, Bishop was one of Australia’s busiest and most visible MPs, sporting a register of interests littered with big events (the Rio Olympics and the AFL Grand Final) as well as fashion freebies from the likes of bag brand The Daily Edited and sportswear company 2XU.

Nicole Kidman at the Australian Open tennis earlier this year alongside husband Keith Urban, Julie Bishop and Anna Wintour. Picture: Michael Klein

The fashion theme has carried on post-politics. Bishop signed on as “friend of David Jones” – what other chains might call a “brand ambassador” or “face of” – on International Women’s Day in March.

The department store marked the occasion with a glowing blog post that described the former pollie as “an icon of enduring elegance” and featured her in a glam fashion shoot dressed in duds by top designers including Toni Maticevski and Rebecca Vallance.

She’s also in a “partnership” with US makeup brand Estee Lauder, demonstrating its products in a video on her Instagram.

From left: Sylvia Jeffreys, host and 2023 Witchery White Shirt Ambassador, Julie Bishop, panellist and ambassador, Pip Edwards, White Shirt Designer, and ambassadors Connie Mitchell and Jelena Dokic at the Witchery 15th Annual White Shirt Campaign held at Bennelong Restaurant. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In an appearance on the In Fashion podcast in May, Bishop said her “Minister for Fashion” reputation was “used as a political weapon against me” during her time in parliament.

“But I absolutely embraced it, loved it,” she said.

She said she was now embracing the fashion freedom of life after politics, including the perks of being styled and dressed by the industry’s best.

“I don’t have to wear my own clothes – I can promote other designers,” Bishop said.

Julie Bishop attends the David Jones AW23 Runway as part of Melbourne Fashion Festival in March. Picture: Getty

Julie Bishop attends the David Jones Indigenous Fashion Projects - Presented by Afterpay show during Afterpay Australian Fashion Week 2023. Picture: Getty

LOBBYIST JULIE

Who: Twinza Oil

What she gets: fees

Bishop hung out her lobbyist shingle in April 2020 as Julie Bishop & Partners, roping in her former ministerial chief of staff Murray Hansen.

According to the federal government’s register of lobbyists, it has just one client, Twinza Oil.

It’s not clear what JB & P does for Twinza, which declined to comment.

The company was formerly involved in Myanmar, a situation which would definitely benefit from the touch of a former foreign minister, but hasn’t been there for years. These days it has a couple of oil prospects it’s keen on developing in Papua New Guinea.

Former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019. Picture: AAP

ADVISOR JULIE

Who: Palladium, Afiniti, Greensill Capital, Mineral Resources

What she gets: fees

Bishop caused a political storm when she became a non-executive director of Palladium Group, one of the biggest aid contractors in the world, just four months after leaving politics.

The move was controversial because Palladium is one of the Australian government’s biggest aid contractors – the official tenders database shows that it has reaped more than $3bn in revenue from the commonwealth over the past 20 years.

Julie Bishop and former US President Barack Obama. Source: Instagram

However, corporate filings here and in the US indicate Bishop and other Australian directors, including former rugby player John Eales and corporate veteran Ann Sherry, quit the board in September 2020 after recommending a $195.5m takeover by Palladium’s management.

She’s also a “strategic advisor” to Perth-based mining services company Mineral Resources – a role that included hosting a video introduction to the company’s new headquarters last year.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Bishop remains on the advisory board of artificial

intelligence firm Afiniti.

Former British PM David Cameron was chair of the advisory board, but quit in November 2021 after the company’s founder, Zia Chishti, was accused of sexual assault, and it was widely speculated at the time that Bishop would follow him out the door.

She quit another role alongside Cameron, advising finance group Greensill Capital, well before the company collapsed in March 2021 – but not before collecting a pay packet reportedly worth $600,000 a year.

Bishop wasn’t available for an interview on her advisory roles and broader business interests, and nor did she answer written questions.

COMMUNITY JULIE

Who: Telethon, Council On Foreign Affairs, Australian National University, The Prince’s Trust, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation

What she gets: a warm inner glow

Bishop’s world is not all cash and catwalks. She’s also active in the community and charity sectors, chairing WA’s Telethon Kids Institute, which researches childhood illnesses and is based at the Perth Children’s Hospital, and the Australian arm of the King’s charity, the Prince’s Trust.

Julie Bishop helped promote the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation’s awarding of new grants totalling almost $1.8 million to three researchers leading the fight against ovarian cancer. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Neither gig is paid, although the Prince’s Trust role earned her an invitation to the coronation, where she snapped herself with Lionel Richie (and posted it to Instagram).

Australian Julie Bishop takes a selfie with Lionel Richie inside Westminster Abbey ahead of the Coronation. Source: Instagram

As an ambassador for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Bishop has taken to raising money by auctioning off what she says are “quite flamboyant dresses” she wears in “the most unlikely of situations” – from lithium mines to beaches – to attract media attention.

Bishop is also paid $75,000 a year as chancellor of Canberra’s Australian National University.

In America, she’s a member of the Council on Foreign Affairs global board of advisors – a group which exists to provide the think tank “with insight about their regions and also offers a mechanism for members of the GBA to join discussions on international relations and the US role in the world”.