AS she prepares for the next chapter in an extraordinary life, Julia Gillard is feeling the call of family and home and heading back to Adelaide.
She will shortly move back to the City of Churches to be closer to her ageing mother, Moira, and her sister, Alison.
Gillard, 52, was a practising lawyer before beginning her 15-year political career and may consider a return to the law, though an international role is more likely.
As a former prime minister, she is entitled to an office, a small staff and other benefits, including 40 free domestic flights per year (with spouse), free home and mobile phones, and a private car.
Although initially reluctant on the international stage, Ms Gillard established herself as a sure hand in the councils of the world, notching up several foreign policy wins and building unusually strong bonds with leaders such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
She famously said she was happier in an Australian classroom than strutting the international stage. But as she grew in the job, she found a way of melding her role as a stateswoman with advocating for women and girls around the world by including visits to schools and workplaces in her international itineraries.
It was a preoccupation that saw her lead a class with President Obama at a Virginia high school in 2011, and this year she spent an hour with high school students at a central Beijing school.
Among career possibilities open to a former prime minister is to join the corporate speaking circuit, and a possible book deal, with publishers likely to pay big money to secure the inside story of the country’s first female prime minister.
Ms Gillard is living in her Altona house in the south-western Melbourne electorate of Lalor, having moved out of The Lodge shortly after being deposed.
Ms Gillard declined to provide any comment for this report, but it is understood that while the interstate shift is not imminent, she and partner Tim Mathieson are looking for a suitable residence and plan to move after the election.
Ms Gillard lost her father, John Gillard, late in 2012, while she was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in Vladivostok, Russia.
Speaking at a staff party at The Lodge on the night of her replacement, Ms Gillard urged her closest supporters not to white-ant the new leadership, reportedly telling them ”shit happens” in politics.
Last week she briefly broke her silence to thank well-wishers on Twitter: ”Thanks to all who have sent notes and gifts. Deeply appreciated. Looking forward to time with family. Will see you all down the track. JG.”
