Christian Benedict

From Daily Escape

The Right Honourable Christian Benedict
Prime Minister of the Australasian Union
In office May 2, 1996 — present
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Preceded by	Sir William Kingsley
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Constituency	Newcastle
Born	January 21, 1953 Auckland, New Zealand, Australasia
Spouse	Melissa Benedict (née McAllen)
Profession	Politician, barrister
Religion	Anglican (Anglo-Catholic)
Languages	English (fluent), French (rudimentary), German (rudimentary)

Christian James Benedict (born 21 January, 1953) is the Prime Minister of the Australasian Union and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, and Member of Parliament for the Division of Newcastle in New South Wales. His official residence is Kirribilli House, Sydney.

Benedict became leader of the Liberal Democratic party in November 1993 following the resignation of Geoffrey Palmer. Under Benedict's leadership the party won a landslide victory in the 1996 general election.

[edit] Background and family life

Benedict was born in Auckland, New Zealand, the second child of James and Elisabeth Benedict. James Benedict was the son of English immigrants, while his wife came from a local family of Dutch heritage. Benedict has one sibling; Janette Benedict (born 1952), a prominent actress. For the first five years of his life, Benedict lived in the south-eastern suburb of Newmarket, where his father practised law. In 1958 the family moved to Adelaide so that James Benedict could take up a teaching position at the city's university. There, Benedict spent the remainder of his childhood.

After graduating with a second class degree from the University of Adelaide, Benedict was admitted to the bar and sought work as a barrister. He spent three years as a Crown prosecutor before traveling abroad, working for law firms in both the United Kingdom and Canada. During this time, Benedict obtained a Master of Laws from Oxford University, and went on to complete a doctorate at McGill University. It was at McGill that he met his future wife, Melissa McAllen (daughter of American diplomat Gavin McAllen). Upon returning to Australasia in 1989, Benedict became Professor of Law at the University of New Castle, in New South Wales. He held this position until his election to Federal Parliament in 1993.

Benedict married McAllen, a fellow academic, on 9 July 1985. They have two children, Jessica (born 1986) and Gavin (born 1991).