Jessica Kate Wilson (born 25 April 1990) is an Australian politician who is the member for

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. Prior to her candidacy at the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Victorian Legislat ...

, Wilson was Executive Director of Policy at the

Business Council of Australia The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is an industry association that comprises the chief executives of more than 130 of Australia's biggest corporations. It was formed in 1983 by the merger of the Business Roundtable – a spin-off of the Co ...

Politics

Prior to her candidacy for the Kew seat, Wilson worked as an adviser to former federal energy minister

Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg (; born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisi ...

and as Executive Director of Policy at the Business Council of Australia. Additionally, she was a former president of the Victorian Young Liberals. Wilson was preselected to be Liberal candidate for the traditionally safe Liberal seat of Kew after defeating a number of pre-selection candidates including a senior Victorian Liberal figure, David Davis. At the

, she defeated teal independent Sophie Torney and

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate Lucy Skelton. On 18 December 2022, Liberal Party leader

John Pesutto John Pesutto (; born 5 September 1970) is an Australian politician and lawyer who has served as the member for Electoral district of Hawthorn, Hawthorn in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2022 Victorian state election, 2022, having prev ...

announced that Wilson would join the opposition front bench becoming the Shadow Minister for Finance, Shadow Minister for Economic Reform and Regulation, and Shadow Minister for Home Ownership and Housing Affordability. On 2 October 2023, as part of a cabinet reshuffle, Wilson became the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood and Education in lieu of Home Ownership and Housing Affordability, retaining the Shadow Minister for Finance, and Shadow Minister for Economic Reform and Regulation portfolios. In 2023, Wilson was the only Victorian Liberal MP who publicly supported the

Indigenous Voice to Parliament The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the First Nations Voice or simply the Voice, was a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal a ...

. On

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

2024 (26 December) she announced that she would nominate for the leadership of the Victoria Liberal Parliamentary Party if the following day’s

spill motion In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply a spill) is a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (leader and deputy leader in ...

was successful. She was eliminated in the first round of voting.

Personal life

Wilson grew up in Melbourne's inner east attending Mont Albert Primary School and Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar, and completing tertiary education at Monash University. Wilson played hockey for the Kew Box Hill Hockey Club, and barracks for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

References

1990 births Living people Politicians from Melbourne Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Monash Law School alumni 21st-century Australian politicians Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub