33 Facts About Peter Khalil

Peter Khalil was born on 23 March 1973 and is an Australian politician.

Peter Khalil is a member of the Australian Labor Party and has served in the House of Representatives since the 2016 federal election, representing the Victorian seat of Wills.

Peter Khalil studied law at the University of Melbourne and Australian National University, subsequently working for the Department of Defence and Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs.

Peter Khalil briefly worked in Iraq with the Coalition Provisional Authority and later worked in the United States as analyst with the Brookings Institution and Eurasia Group.

In 2007, Khalil was appointed as national security adviser to ALP leader Kevin Rudd.

Peter Khalil was later a director of the Special Broadcasting Service and member of the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

Peter Khalil is the son of Georgette and Fayek Khalil, and is a Coptic Christian.

Peter Khalil's parents migrated to Australia from Egypt in 1970.

Peter Khalil's father was a lawyer before moving to Australia, subsequently working for Australia Post and serving on the state executive of the Postal and Telecommunications Union.

Peter Khalil's mother worked in childcare, as an interpreter, and in the printing department of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Peter Khalil competed in the boys' singles tournament at the 1990 Australian Open, losing to Todd Larkham in the first round.

Peter Khalil was appointed as the CPA's director of national security policy, reporting to CPA leader Paul Bremer and other CPA officials.

Peter Khalil lived in the Republican Palace, Baghdad, with his role including "providing advice on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, negotiating with Iraqi political leaders and working to rebuild Iraqi government ministries".

Peter Khalil returned to Australia in May 2004 and transferred to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as assistant director of Iraq policy.

In February 2007, Peter Khalil was appointed as principal national security adviser to opposition leader Kevin Rudd.

Peter Khalil continued to work for Rudd after he became prime minister following the 2007 federal election, later moving to the office of defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon in 2008 as a senior adviser.

Peter Khalil was appointed to the Victorian Multicultural Commission in 2015, and was an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Centre for International Security.

Peter Khalil was preselected as the Australian Labor Party candidate for the federal Division of Wills at the 2016 federal election.

Peter Khalil won both the nomination and the election, becoming the new member for seat in the 2016 Australian federal election, succeeding Kelvin Thomson, and became the first Coptic Christian to be elected to Federal Parliament in Australia.

Peter Khalil claims that during that campaign some door knockers volunteering for the Australian Greens told people he was a "war criminal", due to his involvement in the Iraq War where he was director of national security policy in the provisional government.

Peter Khalil campaigned on his record of constituency work and the prospect of being a member of the next government.

Peter Khalil is proud of having been raised in public housing, writing in 2020 of how "affordable housing helped level the playing field, it offered us real equality of opportunity" and "helped me and others rise out of disadvantage".

Peter Khalil is critical of federal government that it has allowed the level of public housing stock to slip since the 1990s.

On energy, Peter Khalil has withdrawn support from Adani's Carmichael coal mine because "it doesn't stack up commercially and environmentally".

Peter Khalil is a strong supporter of the Western alliance, having served with Coalition forces in Iraq and with the Brookings Institution as visiting fellow.

Peter Khalil went on to argue for a containment of Chinese totalitarian threats to democratic nations, saying:.

Peter Khalil was appointed the deputy chair to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in mid 2019, working alongside Dave Sharma.

Peter Khalil has stated himself to be "a very strong supporter of the US alliance".

Peter Khalil expresses great concern about the health of global institutions that once could be expected to follow democratic principles, such as the World Health Organization.

Peter Khalil has contributed to The Tocsin the official publication of the social democratic think tank, John Curtin Research Centre.

Peter Khalil was awarded the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal for his service in Iraq.

Peter Khalil met his wife Lydia while working in Iraq, where she was working as a counterterrorism adviser.

Peter Khalil is a member of the Australian Workers Union.