Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Clark (previously Denison). Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Australian Army., Australian Parliament House Biographies; 19 August 2017
Wilkie served with the Australian Army from 1980 to 2004. An officer with the Royal Australian Infantry Corps who had earlier commanded a company of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment,; 19 August 2017 at the time of his entry to public life Wilkie was posted to Australia's Office of National Assessments as an intelligence analyst. In 2003, in the lead-up to the Iraq War, he resigned from his position at the ONA in protest against the way in which the intelligence that he analysed was being misrepresented.
Following his resignation he said: Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction program is very disjointed and contained by the regime that's been in place since the last Gulf War. And there is no hard intelligence linking the Iraqi regime to al-Qaeda in any substantial or worrisome way." He opposed Australia's contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq under the Howard government.; ABC Radio; AM Program; 12 March 2003. Wilkie later argued the Iraq War was based on a "lie".; ABC News; 7 July 2016
Wilkie has been active in politics since 2003. He was a Greens candidate for the federal Division of Bennelong in the 2004 federal election against then-Prime Minister John Howard and for the Senate in Tasmania at the 2007 federal election. In 2010 he stood as an independent candidate for the state seat of Denison at the Tasmanian state election, narrowly missing out on the final vacancy. Later in the year, again as an independent candidate, he ran for the federal seat of Denison at the 2010 federal election and won, finishing third on the primary vote but winning the seat after the distribution of preferences. Wilkie finished first on the primary vote at both the 2013 federal election and 2016 federal election, increasing his margin each time.
In 2019, the Division of Denison was replaced by the Division of Clark, to which Wilkie transferred.
He retained the seat at the 2022 Australian federal election by a margin of 20.82%.
In the 2025 Australian federal election, Wilkie maintained his seat winning 70.38% of the two-candidate-preferred result.
Early life and education Wilkie attended St Gregory's College, Campbelltown and later trained at the Royal Military College, DuntroonWilkie, 2004 p. 2 and graduated in 1984. He joined the Young Liberals while a cadet. He also studied at the University of New South Wales, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Graduate Diploma of Management, and a Graduate Diploma of Defence Studies. After graduation and being stationed in Brisbane, he joined the Liberal Party before allowing his membership to lapse. His military career spanned 1980–2001 and he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.Wilkie, 2004, back cover He was seconded to the ONA, an Australian intelligence agency, from 1999 until late 2000. After a stint with US defence company Raytheon, Wilkie returned to the ONA shortly after the September 11 attacks.
Military career, 1980–2003 Wilkie joined the Army in 1980, and was first stationed in Brisbane, Queensland. He served in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was discharged in 2001.
Opposition to Iraq War Iraq failed to comply with demands to allow unfettered arms inspections, and the Howard government elected to send forces to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq. While the Government was considering the case for war, Wilkie was asked to report on humanitarian considerations. According to a leaked report published in the Herald Sun, in December 2002 Wilkie submitted to the government an Office of National Assessments report on the humanitarian implications of war in Iraq. In the report he cautioned against unpredictable and potentially serious humanitarian consequences of war with Iraq, such as the use of weapons of mass destruction against civilians.
Wilkie gave evidence to official British and Australian inquiries into the government's case for involvement in the Iraq war. In 2004, Wilkie published Axis of Deceit, an account of the reasons for his decision and its results.Wilkie, 2004
Following Britain's 2016 Chilcot Report which criticised the Blair Government's prosecution of the war, Wilkie said that Howard, Bush and Blair should be brought before an international court, and called for Australia to hold another inquiry into the war. Howard rejected Wilkie's proposition and called him "irrational", telling the media: "Andrew Wilkie said the Iraq invasion was responsible for the Bali attack of 2005. What about the Bali attack of 2002? And he blamed it [the Iraq War] on the Lindt Cafe siege. I mean, this is irrational."; ABC News online, 7 July 2016.
Resignation from ONA (2003) On 11 March 2003, Wilkie resigned from the ONA, stating that Iraq was not a security threat to the US, the UK, Australia or to any other country and that a war may provoke Saddam Hussein to use weapons of mass destruction or support terrorism. Wilkie told the ABC: "I think that invading Iraq at this time would be wrong. For a start, Iraq does not pose a security threat to any other country at this point in time. Its military is very weak, it's a fraction of the size of the military at the time of the invasion of Kuwait. Its weapons of mass destruction program is very disjointed and contained by the regime that's been in place since the last Gulf War. And there is no hard intelligence linking the Iraqi regime to al-Qaeda in any substantial or worrisome way."; ABC Radio, AM Program; 12 March 2003 Wilkie later told the press that in the lead up to his resignation he had increasingly encountered ethical conflict between his duty as an intelligence officer and his "respect for the truth". In 2016, after appearing at the Chilcot enquiry, Wilkie said the notion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and co-operated with terrorists had been "a lie ... No wonder John Howard and Tony Blair and George W Bush do stand accused of war crimes". He linked the 2005 Bali bombings and the 2014 Lindt Cafe siege to Australia's participation in the invasion of Iraq.; ABC News online, 7 July 2016.
Political career, 2004–present Candidacy for Australian Greens (2004–2008)
Wilkie became a member of the Australian Greens by 2004, and stood as their candidate for the seat of Bennelong in that year's federal election, running against sitting prime minister John Howard. He was a supporter of the 'Not happy, John!' campaign which ran during the election campaign. Polling 16.37% of the primary vote, Wilkie achieved the fifth-highest vote percentage for a Greens candidate across the nation at the time. This result was a considerable increase from the Greens' previous election result in Bennelong of 4.03%. Although Wilkie's vote was nowhere near enough to win the seat, there was an overall swing of 3.18% against Howard, who achieved a primary vote of only 49.89%, which resulted in the seat being decided on preferences.
Wilkie did not run again for Bennelong in the 2007 federal election, instead running as the Greens' second Tasmanian candidate for the Australian Senate, behind the party's federal leader, Bob Brown. He was not elected.
He resigned from the party in 2008, criticising it for a lack of professionalism.
Member of Parliament (2010–present)
Gillard–Rudd government Wilkie stood as an independent candidate in the state Division of Denison, based around central Hobart, in the 2010 Tasmanian state election. He won 8.44 per cent of first preference votes,, Tasmanian Electoral Commission and was beaten by 315 votes by Liberal candidate Elise Archer after distribution of preferences.
Wilkie stood as an independent for the federal Division of Denison, which has the same boundaries as the state division, in the 2010 federal election and won more than 20 per cent of the primary vote. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation declared Wilkie the winner on election night, predicting that Wilkie would be vaulted into second place on Green preferences and ultimately take the seat on Liberal preferences. On the third count, he picked up enough Green preferences to put him in second place, ahead of the Liberal candidate. On the fourth count, more than 79 percent of the Liberal candidate's preferences flowed to Wilkie, allowing him to win the seat with just over 51 per cent of the two-candidate-preferred vote. Reportedly, Wilkie benefited from what was perceived to have been a lacklustre campaign by Labor's candidate, Jonathan Jackson, the son of former longtime state Labor minister Judy Jackson; Labor lost almost a quarter of its primary vote from 2007, and Labor theoretically tallied a two-party vote of more than 65 percent.
Following the election, he declared that he would back the Labor minority government, in return for Julia Gillard's administration committing $340 million to the Royal Hobart Hospital and a commitment to reduce problem gambling. In contrast the Coalition offered A$1 billion in funding for the same hospital in their offer to Wilkie, which was perceived by Wilkie as "almost reckless". Wilkie described this as being part of the evidence that Labor would better be able to offer a more stable, competent and ethical government than the Coalition. The agreement to support the government only extended to issues of supply and no confidence motions.
Wilkie was unexpectedly admitted to hospital on 12 November 2010 to have his gall bladder removed. This did not interfere with his ability to attend Parliamentary sittings and he was present at the debate on same-sex marriage on 15 November, where he seconded the motion raised by Greens member Adam Bandt.
In April 2011, during push for gambling reform initiated by Wilkie, News Limited media reported allegations by a former Duntroon army cadet that in 1983 Wilkie had forced junior cadets to salute to Adolf Hitler on the 50th anniversary of the latter's rise to power. In response, Wilkie said he had been "involved in bastardisation of teenage army cadets" at Duntroon during the 1980s, and apologised for this "inappropriate behaviour", but could not recall the specific incident alleged. With regard to the allegation and its publication, he accused pro-Pokies advocates of running a smear campaign against him.
On 21 January 2012, Wilkie announced that he was withdrawing his support for the Labor government after it broke the agreement he had signed with Julia Gillard to implement mandatory pre-commitment for all poker machines by 2014. He stated that he would support the government's alternative plan to trial pre-commitment in the ACT and require that pre-commitment technology be installed in all poker machines built from 2013, but that this fell short of what he had been promised in return for supporting the government. Gillard and Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin argued that there was not enough support in the House of Representatives for Wilkie's preferred option for it to be passed, and that they had been advised it was technically infeasible to implement mandatory commitment within the time frame he had specified. In making his announcement, Wilkie stated that he would only support motions of no confidence against the government "in the event of serious misconduct" and would "consider budget measures on their merits".
Abbott-Turnbull government
Wilkie was re-elected in the 2013 federal election, gaining a swing of 15 points to increase his majority to 65 percent.
In October 2014, Wilkie wrote to the International Criminal Court, seeking to prosecute Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the 19 members of his cabinet for crimes against humanity, with particular concerns relating to the treatment of asylum seekers.
Morrison government