Julia Gillard’s former partner to admit to sex assault charge

Julia Gillard’s ex-partner, Tim Mathieson, will admit to sexually assaulting a woman in Melbourne two weeks before the former prime minister confirmed their split.

Tim Mathieson leaves his lawyer’s office in Melbourne on Thursday. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

The ex-partner of Julia Gillard sucked a woman’s nipple without her consent while he was “drunk” in Melbourne’s inner north just two weeks before it became public he’d split from the former prime minister.

Lawyers for Tim Mathieson, the hairdresser who became Australia’s “First Bloke” when Ms Gillard was PM, on Thursday told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that he would admit sexually assaulting the woman in Brunswick East in March 2022.

Charge sheets reveal the 66-year-old “intentionally sexually touched” the female “by sucking her nipple without her consent”.

This was done in circumstances where he “did not reasonably believe (she) consented to the touching”, the court papers state.

Tim Mathieson refuses to answer reporters’ questions as he leaves his lawyer’s office. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Mr Mathieson escapes the media pack in a ute. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Detailing the circumstances around the incident, a source told the Herald Sun that Mathieson “got handsy after a few drinks” and was “drunk”.

The incident occurred a fortnight before Ms Gillard publicly confirmed they had ended their 15-year relationship several months earlier, in 2021.

Mathieson was charged with three offences in May this year by the sexual offences squad.

But Mathieson’s defence lawyer Brad Penno told the court on Thursday the matter had “resolved”, indicating Mathieson would plead guilty to one sexual assault charge.

The two other charges, which were not disclosed, were subsequently withdrawn.

The court heard Mathieson might be eligible for a diversion, meaning he would escape a conviction and no finding of guilt would be recorded against him over the incident.

Tim Mathieson was Julia Gillard’s partner from 2006 to 2021. Picture: David Crosling

Magistrate Roslyn Porter was told by the prosecutor that contact would need to be made with the complainant about the possibility of a diversion.

If a diversion was to be granted, a magistrate would set conditions that must be completed as part of a plan, which could include an apology to the victim, compensation to her or a donation to a charity.

Mathieson, sporting a suit and tie, appeared via video link from the back of his lawyer’s CBD office – just 180m from the magistrates’ court.

He emerged from the building about 2pm on Thursday, three hours after the hearing.

He refused to answer any questions as he made his way to a waiting Nissan ute.

Mathieson and Ms Gillard began dating in 2006 while she was the deputy leader of the Labor Party.

After Ms Gillard became prime minister in 2010, the pair became the first unmarried couple to live at The Lodge, until she was toppled in a leadership spill in 2013.

Despite declaring in 2011 that he wished to wed Ms Gillard, the couple never married.

Mr Mathieson with Ms Gillard at the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House in Canberra.

Mathieson has previously fronted court for drink-driving offences, after he hit a fence and damaged it in Queensland in 2001. No one was injured in the crash, but Mathieson was banned from driving for eight months.

Mathieson has attracted controversy over the years, ­including:

• In 2012, he was entangled in a scandal involving a taxpayer- funded jet, with documents ­revealing he flew from Sydney to Canberra on an RAAF Challenger at a cost of $1725 to meet Ms Gillard and travel with her to Hobart.

At the time, the PM’s office justified the solo flight, with a spokesman saying the jet had to move from its Canberra base to pick Ms Gillard up so she could travel to Tasmania.

• In 2013, Mathieson was criticised when he claimed prostate cancer checks were best done by “a small female Asian doctor”.

He made the comments at a reception for the West Indies cricket team, with Ms Gillard standing behind him. He later apologised for the remark, saying he accepted it was in “poor taste”.

• In 2014, Victoria’s Attorney-General Robert Clark called on Mathieson to explain himself after he left an angry message on former premier Denis Napthine’s electorate ­office phone.

Speaking to the Herald Sun in 2007, Mathieson’s brother – a successful car dealer – said his “flamboyant” brother had not lived up to his part of a business agreement to set up a hair salon in Shepparton.

“We set the business up for him because he wanted to come home. We gave it a go here and then he decided his place wasn’t there so he went back to Melbourne,” he said.

“He’s my brother, you cop it and get on with it. We don’t see him much but he’s got a fairly busy life now. He’s ­always been flamboyant and out there.’’

Mathieson will return to court on August 31.