Timothy Robert Wilson (born 12 March 1980) is an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the Victorian division of Goldstein since 2025 and from 2016 to 2022, and is the shadow treasurer of the shadow ministry of Angus Taylor. Prior to entering politics, Wilson worked as a policy director at the conservative think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) from 2007 to 2013 and Australia's Human Rights Commissioner from 2014 to 2016.
Early life Wilson was born on 12 March 1980 in Prahran, Victoria. He is the second of three children. His maternal grandfather immigrated to Australia from Armenia and was a survivor of the Armenian genocide. Wilson has been described by the Armenian National Committee of Australia as a "vocal and prominent supporter of Armenian-Australian issues, fiercely advocating for his government's recognition of the Armenian genocide and solidarity with the indigenous Armenian self-determined Republic of Artsakh". In his early years, Wilson's parents ran pubs in Richmond and on Little Collins Street. Following their divorce he moved to Mount Martha and attended Mount Martha Primary School and The Peninsula School, Mount Eliza. At Monash University, Wilson studied fine arts before transferring and completing a Bachelor of Arts (Policy Studies) and a Masters of Diplomacy and Trade (International Trade). He was elected President of the Monash University Student Union Caulfield in 2002 and again in 2003.
Early career
Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) Wilson was employed by the Institute of Public Affairs for seven years, serving as Director of Climate Change Policy and of Intellectual Property and Free Trade. Wilson studied environmental issues in a variety of postgraduate studies.
Human Rights Commissioner (HRC)
During his time at the IPA, Wilson was a vocal critic of the Human Rights Commission and called for the abolition of the Commission. He was appointed as Australia's Human Rights Commissioner between February 2014 and February 2016. On appointment to the Human Rights Commission, Wilson resigned his membership of the Liberal Party. It was reported that in the first year following his appointment, Wilson claimed $77,000 in expenses, including almost $15,000 in taxi fares, computer equipment, including $1,400 on a desk and $37,000 on airfares. Wilson's response to these charges was, "You'd rather I sit in my office all day?" The Australian Human Rights Commission stated that "The travel expenses of commissioners are proportionate to the work required to fulfil their statutory obligations" and that Wilson "completed two major national consultations which required travel to remote, rural and regional Australia as well as capital cities". In July 2020, it was revealed that, while a commissioner, he had used his Commission email account to introduce a prominent international speaker to the Institute of Public Affairs for an event, as well as arrange his attendance at the free market think-tank's functions, and to obtain from someone an endorsement in support of his campaign to gain Liberal preselection for Parliament. Wilson acknowledged that he had opposed the release of the emails, which had been sought through a freedom of information application, but considered them "utterly irrelevant" and a "non-story”, saying his support of the IPA was publicly disclosed and well known throughout his term. Furthermore Wilson stated he originally halted the release of the emails to toy with the freedom of information applicant to "make sure the applicant thought there was something salacious in these emails only to be disappointed that they were utterly irrelevant and they'd wasted their time, and sadly that of the hard-working people at the Australian Human Rights Commission, who had to compile and redact these documents".
Political career
Early campaign In 2008, Wilson, then a Liberal Party member, ran for the position of deputy mayor of the City of Melbourne in a joint ticket with Peter McMullin, a former Labor mayor of Geelong. Wilson and McMullin lost.
Federal parliament
First and second terms On 19 March 2016, Wilson was preselected as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Goldstein. He defeated Denis Dragovic by two votes. Fellow IPA employee, Georgina Downer was also a preselection candidate, but lost in the first round of voting. As recently as 2014, Wilson did not live in the electorate, but moved into the electoral boundaries in anticipation for the election. Wilson was subsequently elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 Australian federal election. He is a member of the Moderate faction of the Liberal Party. In his first term, he served on the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport, the Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources and the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs. When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called a spill of leadership positions in 2018, Wilson supported Turnbull against Peter Dutton. Following the vote to remove Turnbull, Wilson moved his support behind the eventual winner, Scott Morrison as the new Liberal leader and Prime Minister. In 2018, Wilson was appointed by Scott Morrison as the chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics. Wilson won a second term at the 2019 election. Wilson was promoted to be an Assistant Minister in September 2021. He was named as the assistant to Angus Taylor, responsible for the areas of industry, energy and emissions reduction.
2022 election campaign Prior to the 2022 federal election, community group Voices of Goldstein announced that they were endorsing former ABC journalist Zoe Daniel as an independent candidate for the election. Wilson lost his seat to Daniel and suffered a 12 percent primary vote swing against him.
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