Georgina Mary Beatrice Downer (born 29 September 1979 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) is an Australian political figure and Director of the Robert Menzies Institute. She has unsuccessfully contested several elections, and is a lawyer and former diplomat.

Early life and education

Downer was born in

in 1979 to Nicky and

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...

. Her father, later leader of the opposition, was based in Belgium as a diplomat. Nicky had been a journalist for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC). She is a member of the Downer political family, with several family members active in political life. After graduating from

Seymour College Seymour College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for girls, located at Glen Osmond, Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1922 as Presbyterian Girls' College, and renamed for the Rev. J. A. Seymour, Seymour has ...

in 1997, Downer moved from Adelaide to study law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. In 2005, Downer won a

Chevening Scholarship The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organizations, that enables foreign students to study at universities in the United Kingdom. History The C ...

to study at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, where she graduated with a master's degree.

Working life

Downer joined the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

as a graduate trainee in 2007, later spending four years in Japan. Working at the Australian Embassy, she reached the position of second secretary.

Politics

In 2015, Downer was linked in the media to the Senate seat vacated by

Michael Ronaldson Michael John Clyde Ronaldson (born 13 February 1954) is a former Australian politician. He was a Senator for the state of Victoria representing the Liberal Party from July 2005 until February 2016, and previously served in the House of Represe ...

; and as a possible replacement for Kevin Andrews in the seat of

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

. In 2016, she was mooted as a possible replacement for

Bruce Billson Bruce Fredrick Billson (born 26 January 1966) is an Australian former politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a member of the House of Representatives for Dunkley, a Melbourne seat, from 1996 to 2016 and held ministerial office in the ...

in the seat of Dunkley. Downer contested the Liberal pre-selection for the seat of Goldstein in 2016, but was defeated by

Tim Wilson Tim Wilson may refer to: * Tim Wilson (broadcaster), New Zealand television news reporter and anchor * Tim Wilson (canoeist), Australian canoeist * Tim Wilson (comedian) (1961–2014), American comedian and country music artist * Tim Wilson (fil ...

. She was the endorsed

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate for the seat of Mayo in the Australian House of Representatives in the 2018 by-election and in the 2019 general election, but both times was unsuccessful. Her promotion of the funding of a sports grant while a candidate, instead of the current member for the seat,

Rebekha Sharkie Rebekha Carina Sharkie ( Che; born 24 August 1972) is an Australian politician and member of the Centre Alliance party. She is a member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Mayo in South Australia. At the 2 ...

, was a key initiating factor in the public coverage of the sports rorts affair of 2020. Downer returned to Melbourne shortly after her 2019 defeat.

Personal life

Downer married Will Heath, a lawyer with

King & Wood Mallesons King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest international commercial law firm based in the Asia–Pacific, Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and over 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the U ...

, in 2009. The couple had met at university in 2000. They have two children.

Electoral history

Federal

References

1979 births Living people Australian diplomats Australian expatriates in Belgium {{Australia-bio-stub