Julia Irwin Politician

Julia Claire Irwin (born 8 November 1951), Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to July 2010, representing the Division of Fowler, New South Wales. Irwin was born in Sydney and was variously a bank officer, trade union administration officer and electorate officer before entering politics.In September 2005 Irwin was involved in a controversy over comments she made about Israel. On 13 September Irwin made a speech in Parliament characterising Israel's policies as "ethnic cleansing", and Gaza as a "concentration camp". After criticism from Jewish groups and by members of both the Liberal and Labor parties, Irwin issued an apology for her "offensive" language.Irwin announced in September 2009 that she would not recontest her seat at the 2010 federal election.