Christian Kerr
Encyclopedia
Christian Kerr, an Australia
n political commentator who wrote for the email news service Crikey
before joining The Australian
in 2008.
Prior to becoming a writer Kerr was a staffer to South Australia
n Liberal
Senators Robert Hill
, Amanda Vanstone
and former South Australian Premier
John Olsen
.
In February 2000 Crikey founder and former editor Stephen Mayne
introduced the new contributor Hillary Bray:
The pseudonym came from a James Bond
book. Christian Kerr took up the role of Hillary Bray after his work as a political staffer led to an extended period of depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, and multifactorial political disillusionment. He continued to write about politics for Crikey under his own name.
Since he outed himself as the person behind the pseudonym Hillary Bray, he has joined the Canberra Press Gallery
and broadened the topics he covered in Crikey beyond just politics.
In 2008 he joined the journalistic staff of Rupert Murdoch's
The Australian
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n political commentator who wrote for the email news service Crikey
Crikey
Crikey is an independent Australian electronic magazine comprising an open access website and an email newsletter available to subscribers. Well known in Australian political, media and business circles, Crikey was described by former Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham as the "most popular...
before joining The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
in 2008.
Prior to becoming a writer Kerr was a staffer to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Senators Robert Hill
Robert Hill (Australian politician)
Robert Murray Hill is Chancellor of the University of Adelaide and a former Australian politician. He also currently heads the Australian Carbon Trust.-Early life and family:...
, Amanda Vanstone
Amanda Vanstone
Amanda Eloise Vanstone is a former Australian politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the Howard Government. After her resignation from the Senate in 2007, she served as the Australian...
and former South Australian Premier
Premiers of South Australia
Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, MPs tended to have historical liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from 1893 to 1905 with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of...
John Olsen
John Olsen
John Wayne Olsen, AO was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001.-Parliament:Olsen was a member of the Liberal Party and Member of Parliament for more than 20 years...
.
In February 2000 Crikey founder and former editor Stephen Mayne
Stephen Mayne
Stephen Mayne is an Australian journalist, local government councillor and self-described shareholder activist. Mayne is also considered “serial runner”, continually running for elected office and election onto company boards, more often than not in futile attempts, or just to make political...
introduced the new contributor Hillary Bray:
Are you sick of only hearing about Federal politics from political journalists. Would you rather get an insight from a government insider. Well, you've come to the right place. Hillary Bray is one of two sexes: male or female. He/she has definitely worked for the Howard government and may still do - we're not saying. This is his/her first column for Crikey.
The pseudonym came from a James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
book. Christian Kerr took up the role of Hillary Bray after his work as a political staffer led to an extended period of depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, and multifactorial political disillusionment. He continued to write about politics for Crikey under his own name.
Since he outed himself as the person behind the pseudonym Hillary Bray, he has joined the Canberra Press Gallery
Canberra Press Gallery
The Canberra Press Gallery, officially called the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery, is the name given to the approximately 180 journalists and their support staff, including producers, editors and camera crews, who report the workings of the Australian Parliament...
and broadened the topics he covered in Crikey beyond just politics.
In 2008 he joined the journalistic staff of Rupert Murdoch's
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
.