Tim Mathieson

Not to be confused with Tim Matheson.

Tim Mathieson
Mathieson with Julia Gillard in 2013
Partner of the Prime Minister of Australia
In role
24 June 2010 – 27 June 2013
Preceded byThérèse Rein
Succeeded byThérèse Rein
Personal details
Born
Timothy Raymond Mathieson

1957 (age 66–67)
Shepparton, Victoria, Australia
Spouse
Diane Stark
​
​
(m. 1987; div. 2003)​
Domestic partner(s)Julia Gillard
(2006–2021)
Children3
EducationShepparton High School[1]
OccupationHairdresser

Timothy Raymond Mathieson (born 1957) is an Australian hairdresser and the former domestic partner of Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013.[1] Mathieson entered the public spotlight when he became Gillard's partner in 2006 while she was deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party.[2][3] His relationship with Gillard ended in 2021.[4]

Early life and career

Mathieson was born and raised in Shepparton, Victoria. After a hairdressing apprenticeship in suburban Melbourne, he first operated a Shepparton hair salon, then another on the Gold Coast, Queensland.[5] For much of the 1990s, Mathieson lived and worked in San Francisco in the United States.[6]

Mathieson returned to Australia in 2004, worked for one year as a hairdresser at Heading Out salon in Melbourne, where he met long-standing salon client, politician Julia Gillard. They began dating in March 2006.[1] With financial support from his father and brother, Mathieson established Tim Mathieson Hair in Shepparton but moved back to Melbourne later in 2006[7] as a sales representative for a hair products company.[6] From January to March 2010, Mathieson focused on the sale of high-rise apartments in Melbourne to international buyers on behalf of a local real estate agency.[3][8]

Once Gillard became prime minister in June 2010, Mathieson supported her by assuming an unpaid behind-the-scenes role.[9]

Public life

In November 2008, Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon appointed Mathieson as one of the government's unpaid men's health ambassadors.[2] He later became an ambassador for Kidney Health Australia,[10] a patron of the Australian Men's Shed Association[11] and involved with the Indigenous Diabetes Association in Alice Springs[3] and Beyond Blue mental health group.[5] In December 2010, Mathieson was appointed patron of the National Portrait Gallery.[12]

In January 2013, Mathieson attracted media attention for a joke he made while advocating for prostate examinations, advising men to seek out "a small Asian female doctor" when receiving a rectal prostate exam. After commentators considered his remark inappropriate and in poor taste, he apologised.[13]

Personal life

While in his late teens during the 1970s, Mathieson fathered a daughter with his girlfriend Pam Child.[14][15] In 1987, Mathieson married Diane Stark; they had a son and a daughter together[16] and divorced in 2003.[17] In March 2006, Mathieson started dating Julia Gillard.[1] When asked in 2010 about formal marriage to Gillard, he said that they had not discussed it at that stage.[18] Mathieson's relationship with Gillard ended in 2021.[19]

Sexual assault

In July 2023, Mathieson pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault after non-consensually sucking the nipple of a sleeping woman and "latching onto her breast when she tried to fend him off" in March 2022.[20][4] Mathieson was convicted in October 2023 and fined $7000.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson 'bubbly'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  2. ^ a b Harris, Talek (25 June 2010). "Beer-swilling hairdresser is Australia's 'First Bloke'". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Lunn, Stephen (26 June 2010). "Julia Gillard's partner faces life in the limelight". The Australian. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Tim Mathieson, former partner of Julia Gillard, spared jail over sexual assault on sleeping woman". ABC News. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Tim Mathieson, Men's Health Ambassador". Beyond Blue. 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  6. ^ a b Valent, Dani (18 May 2007). "Our Julia". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  7. ^ Crabb, Annabel (29 November 2008). "Gotta wash sexism right outta our hair". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  8. ^ Royce Millar and Rafael Epstein (20 August 2010). "Tim to quit job if Julia gets up". The Age. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  9. ^ Bath Blowdry And Barracking For The Pm The Daily Telegraph [dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Kidney Health Australia Appoints Tim Mathieson as Health Ambassador" (Press release). Kidney Health Australia. 26 November 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  11. ^ "AMSA Patrons". Australian Men's Shed Association. 2009. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Julia Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson new patron of National Portrait Gallery". The Australian. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  13. ^ "First Bloke Tim Mathieson apologises for prostate joke 'in poor taste'". The Australian. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  14. ^ https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/tim-mathieson-reveals-he-wants-partner-and-prime-minister-julia-gillard-to-be-his-wife/news-story/4478da3c7d39a6ca46ef365c2289b777 [bare URL]
  15. ^ Tinkler, Chris (14 October 2007). "Julia Gillard's partner in plea". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  16. ^ Walsh, Kerry-Anne; Benns, Matthew (27 June 2010). "First bloke is a man's man". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  17. ^ Weston, Paul (1 August 2010). "Speeding Tim Mathieson was also a drink-driver". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  18. ^ Lunn, Stephen (25 June 2010). "Let's wait and see on marriage, says Julia Gillard's partner". The Australian. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  19. ^ Brown, Natalie (27 March 2022). "Julia Gillard confirms she's quietly split with former 'First Bloke' Tim Mathieson". news.com.au. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  20. ^ Pearson, Erin (27 July 2023). "Julia Gillard's ex-partner Tim Mathieson to plead guilty to sex assault". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
Honorary titles
Preceded by Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia
24 June 2010 – 26 June 2013 		Succeeded by