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
Acting prime minister is on vacation, or is in ill health. In the early 20th century, when travel by ship was still the norm, it was not uncommon for there to be an acting Prime Minister for months on end. The deputy Prime Minister is usually designated as the acting Prime Minister, although another senior member of the government may fill the role if both the Prime Minister and deputy Prime Minister are unavailable. An acting Prime Minister is required quite frequently – for instance, between 3 December 2007 and 23 February 2009 (during Kevin Rudd's first term), Julia Gillard acted as Prime