Katharine Jean Baillieu (born 17 January 1946) is an Australian former journalist.

Early career

Baillieu worked as a journalist and later as a

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties ...

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

. In 1977, Baillieu was awarded the

Douglas Wilkie Medal The Douglas Wilkie Medal was an award presented to those who did the least for Australian rules football, in the best and fairest manner. An accolade presented by the Anti-Football League, it was named after Douglas Wilkie, a '' Sun News-Pictor ...

by the Anti-Football League. In an interview with ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' in February 2009, Baillieu revealed that she almost became a reporter for ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' and said that after she resigned, her role as an investigative journalist into asbestos was "ever so delicately erased... they airbrushed me out".

Public controversies

Baillieu has been involved in public controversies against development in and around Portsea. She has been described in the press as the "general for the

old money Old money is a social class of the rich who have been able to maintain their wealth over multiple generations, in contrast with new money whose wealth has been acquired within its own generation. The term often refers to perceived members of th ...

push" in "a struggle of old and

new money ; ), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; ) is a social class of the rich whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. These people previously had belonged to a lower social clas ...

" about development in the area. However, Baillieu has stated: "This is a neighbourly, peaceful place. Portsea conjures up an image. But we are not exclusive. Anyone can come here."

Lindsay Fox

Baillieu was described as a "dogged nemesis" of

Lindsay Fox Lindsay Edward Fox (born ) is an Australian businessman. In 1956, Fox founded the Australian logistics company Linfox, where as of 2015 he serves as non-executive chairman. Early life Lindsay Fox was born around 1937 and brought up in Pra ...

who is her Portsea neighbour. However, Baillieu failed in a court bid to prevent him landing his helicopter at his Portsea house. During court proceedings Baillieu was forced to admit under

cross examination In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (known as examination-in-chief in Law of the Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Law of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Austra ...

that she had landed helicopters in Portsea when she was Kerry Packer's personal assistant. She is currently embroiled in a new battle with Fox over his claims on the Portsea beach in front of his holiday house.

Point Nepean

In late 2002 and in 2003, the Federal Government considered selling or leasing part of Point Nepean. Baillieu became an activist against the proposed redevelopment saying "We could end up with is one rich bloke building a couple of houses there. It will be a bloody tragedy, I can tell you." and "If this priceless heritage land falls into private hands there will undoubtedly be a local electoral backlash and I think it will be a matter of national shame, deep shame". The sale of parts of Point Nepean was prevented by a very strong community campaign which eventually led to Point Nepean being declared a National Park and Heritage listed.

Sorrento Post Office

In May 2012, Baillieu opposed the plans to close or relocate the Sorrento Post Office. Despite Baillieu's intervention to stop the relocation, it has been reported that the Sorrento Post Office, built in 1905, is now expected to be sold.

Political ambitions

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' reported in 2003 that Baillieu was considering entering politics as an independent. As yet, however, she has not made a run for public office.

Personal life

Baillieu is the fourth of seven children of Darren and Diana Baillieu (née Knox). She is a sister of

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Victorian Liberal Party, Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, represe ...

, the former Premier of the

State of Victoria Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. Baillieu is a resident of both Toorak, Melbourne (Hawksburn) and

Portsea, Victoria Portsea is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Portsea reco ...

. Baillieu married

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

n politician and businessman Julian Doyle in October 1983. The marriage to Baillieu was Doyle's second marriage. They had one child together, a daughter, Amy, born in 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baillieu, Kate 1946 births Living people Douglas Wilkie Medal winners Activists from Melbourne Australian people of Belgian descent Australian people of French descent People of Walloon descent Journalists from Melbourne People from Toorak, Victoria