When Julie Bishop told her father she was leaving her legal career for politics, ‘he was horrified’

Julie Bishop is the chancellor of the Australian National University, and best known as being the former deputy leader of the Liberal Party. The 67-year-old talks about growing up on an apple farm, her first political crush, and working in male-dominated fields all her life.

Julie Bishop: “I didn’t look at what I did through a gender prism.”Credit: Steven Chee

I grew up on an apple farm and orchard in Basket Range in the Adelaide Hills surrounded by many great men, from my paternal grandfather, William James Bishop, to my father, Douglas, and uncles and male cousins. A number of families lived and worked on the same property; it was like a commune.

Grandfather William, who died when I was nine, was an austere figure. He was an intellectual man who read a great deal and was interested in politics. He was good friends with local politicians, including long-time South Australian premier Tom Playford.

Dad was a tall, handsome and hard-working man on the land. He treated his wife and four children as equals. All three girls and a younger brother had to pick fruit in the orchard and round up the sheep. We earned his trust and he showed us we were capable of doing whatever we could put our minds to.

One day, a local came to visit my father to ask if he would stand as mayor for the council. He listened to the arguments and replied: “You’re talking to the wrong Bishop. The best person for this role is my wife, Isabel.” I will never forget that. She did stand later and became mayor. Their approach to public life is what led me into politics.

My mother died 18 years ago. Dad never remarried and wasn’t interested in seeing anyone after that – he was committed to Mum and her memory and spoke about her often. He died in 2017. I always thought my parents had the most perfect marriage.

As a politician and public figure for 20 years, I have had to accept a level of media focus on my private life.

JULIE BISHOP

I attended St Peter’s Girls’ School in Adelaide. I got my licence at 16 and no longer needed my parents to drive me to the city from the hills, where we lived, when I needed to go to parties. I had an Austin Healey Sprite I shared with my sister. It was liberating.

In my final year of school, I was captain but got glandular fever from my then-boyfriend. His family were very supportive and allowed me to recuperate in his home for some time.

I had a celebrity crush on John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy as a young girl. I was mad about this elegant, young, romantic political couple. I was devastated in November 1963 when JFK was killed.

My brother, Douglas, is six years younger than me. After I moved to Perth in the early ’80s, he came to visit and ended up staying. He became a partner at law firm Clayton Utz alongside me. We’ve worked together, shared a house and are good friends.

I have always worked in male-dominated careers: law and politics. In my legal career, I became a partner at a law firm at 26. That was thanks to the late John Mangan, a senior lawyer and great mentor who changed his company name to Mangan, Ey & Bishop. There have been many supportive men like this in my professional career.

I took a sabbatical in 1996 to study at Harvard Business School. When I graduated, my parents came over. That’s when I told my father I would leave my legal career for politics. At first he was horrified, but over time became my biggest supporter.

I was elected as the first female for the federal Western Australian seat of Curtin in 1998, and held it until 2019. I was also the Liberal Party’s deputy leader for 11 years from 2007, and was foreign minister from 2013 to 2018. I was lucky to have the support of male colleagues in this time. I didn’t look at what I did through a gender prism.

I was married for five years in my mid-20s [from 1983 to 1988 to property developer Neil Gillon]. I met someone, we fell in love and got married.

As a politician and public figure for 20 years, I have had to accept a level of media focus on my private life. Now that I’m a private citizen, I am happy in life and enjoying it.

Julie Bishop is a friend of David Jones.

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