Julia Banks

Julia Helen Banks is an Australian lawyer and politician. Elected as the member for Chisholm in the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 federal election, Banks was the only candidate for the governing Liberal-National Coalition to win a seat held by an opposition party. The previous member, Labor's Anna Burke, had held the seat since 1998 and did not stand for re-election in 2016. Following the Liberal Party leadership spill in August 2018 that saw Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull replaced by Scott Morrison, Banks stated she would not contest the 2019 federal election; and in November 2018 she announced she had quit the party to become an independent MP and sit on the crossbench. She unsuccessfully contested the seat of Flinders at the 2019 election, pitting her against government frontbencher Greg Hunt.

Early life Banks was born in Victoria on 18 September 1962. She was raised in Melbourne. Her parents are both of Greek heritage and her father migrated to Australia from Greece as a 15-year-old. She studied Arts and Law at Monash University, graduating in 1984 and 1986, respectively. From 1992, she worked at Kraft Foods, rising from General Counsel to Senior Counsel and ultimately becoming the Director for Corporate Affairs (Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific Regions). citing her passion "about equality for all ...because marriage equality is about love, family and fairness" in a Facebook post linking to the article.

In May 2018, during a radio discussion of Newstart unemployment allowance, she was called "out of touch" after she said she could live on $40 a day leading to calls for her to be challenged to do so.

Departure from Liberal Party In August 2018, following the Liberal Party leadership crisis that saw Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull replaced by Scott Morrison, Banks announced that she would not contest the seat of Chisholm at the next federal election. She described the ousting of Turnbull from the Prime Ministership as the "last straw" and cited a "cultural and gender bias, bullying and intimidation" of women in politics. and was supported by Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer (the member for the neighbouring electorate of Higgins Incoming Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg reportedly attempted to persuade Banks not to quit, but Banks was adamant that she would not remain after the "vindictive" behaviour and "internal political games [of] factional party figures, self-proclaimed power-brokers and certain media personalities." and thanked her for not quitting parliament immediately, so that there will not be need for a by-election for her marginal seat. Craig Kelly, who was among the first to call for the spill in support of unsuccessful challenger Peter Dutton, criticised Banks' decision in a Sky News interview and defended politics as a "rough-and-tumble game." He went on to state that the anti-Turnbull plotters employed "a strategy of bullying and intimidation" and have been "eventually proved to have an incompetence to match their brutality [and are] a disaster for the parliamentary party." Banks slammed the Liberal Party for allegedly shifting too far to the right of the political spectrum, arguing the party had "changed largely due to the actions of the reactionary and regressive right wing who talk about and to themselves rather than listening to the people." Banks also stated that she would provide confidence and supply to the government if necessary; and also said that her previously-announced retirement from politics at the forthcoming general election was not a final decision.

In July 2021 her memoir, Power Play: Breaking Through Bias, Barriers and Boys' Clubs, was published by Hardie Grant and reviewed for The Sydney Morning Herald by Jenna Price.

In October 2021 Banks was named as an advisor for climate fund, Climate 200.