Reg Gillard Reg Gillard Reginald Gillard (13 March 1920 – 16 August 2001) was an Australian politician. Born in Lithgow, New South Wales, he was a managing partner before his military service (1941–46). Long prominent in local politics, he served as mayor of Lithgow City Council from 1969 to 1972, and again from 1973 to 1976. In 1975, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Macquarie. He held the seat until his defeat at the 1980 election by Labor's Ross Free. Gillard died in 2001. He was not related to Julia Gillard, the former Prime
Julia Gillard was given additional responsibilities for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. In these roles, in the wake of the Tampa and Children Overboard affairs, which were partly credited with Labor's 2001 election loss, Gillard developed a new immigration policy for the Labor Party. Gillard was later promoted to the position of Shadow Minister for Health and Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House (to Mark Latham) on 2 July 2003. During this time, she shadowed Tony Abbott, with the rivalry between the two often attracting attention from the media. She was later given additional responsibility for managing opposition business in the