The news that former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s ex, Tim Mathieson, will plead guilty to sexually touching a woman without her consent brought the name of a man long forgotten by much of Australia back into the headlines.
The now 66-year-old woman was known as Australia’s “first type” during Ms Gillard’s time in the top job, when they were the first unmarried couple to cohabit at The Lodge.
He quickly disappeared from public view once his time as prime minister ended, but has now been accused of sexually touching a woman by sucking on her nipple without her consent.
Little is known about the circumstances of the alleged crime, which took place in Brunswick East in Melbourne’s city center on March 13 last year.
Mathieson rose to fame as Australia’s “first guy” when Ms Gillard became Prime Minister in 2010.
Staci Child (pictured right) shared a candid photo with her dad and stepsister Sherri (pictured left) to Instagram in 2016
Further details of that sexual assault are unknown, and two other related charges will be dropped as part of an early plea deal with prosecutors.
Mathieson rose to fame as Australia’s “first guy” when Ms Gillard became Prime Minister in 2010.
The couple became the first unmarried couple to live at The Lodge until it was ousted in a leadership spill in 2013.
After mounting speculation, Gillard revealed in early 2022 that the couple had split some time earlier after a decade and a half together.
The former hairdresser from Shepparton in northern Victoria, has fathered three children from past relationships.
Staci Child, hairstylist and makeup artist to the stars, previously residing in the US, was revealed on Woman’s Day as the secret love child she had fathered in her teens.
“I’m limited in what I’m allowed to say to the press,” she told the magazine in 2010.
Tim Mathieson’s eldest daughter, Staci Child (pictured) posed for the men’s magazine Zoo Weekly in a daring photo shoot wearing only a bikini and the Australian flag.
Despite spending time living abroad, Staci told Zoo Magazine that she and her father “stayed close.”
Sherri (pictured) appeared on the first season of The Bachelor
Mathieson has openly acknowledged that he became a father before his first marriage, saying it is “nothing to be ashamed of”, while friends add that he is immensely proud of all his daughter has achieved.
Mathieson has in the past described his relationship with Staci and her mother as “friendly”.
The same year, the tattooed man, then 31, posed for the men’s magazine Zoo Weekly in a daring photo shoot wearing only a bikini and the Australian flag.
She revealed that her ‘first man’ father loved the photos.
“I think Julia will think it’s very Australian,” she added.
Staci grew up with her mother, Pam, in Shepparton and said that despite living in New York, she remained close to her father, who she talks to every day.
He has two other adult children with his ex-wife Diane Stark.
His daughter, Sherri Mathieson, made headlines in 2013 vying for Tim Robards’ affections in Australia’s first series of The Bachelor.
The self-described mystical goddess and queen of self-love, she is now based on the Gold Coast, where she offers promotion of energy healing, sensual healing and goddess circles.
Mathieson is understood to have a third child, who has remained out of the media spotlight.
In her 2014 autobiography, My Story, Ms Gillard revealed details of her courtship with Mathieson.
The couple met in 2004 at the Melbourne salon where Mathieson worked.
“Every four or five weeks, on Sunday mornings, I used to go inside and read the papers while I did my hair,” she wrote.
“Tim and I got into talking about politics: he initially thought I was a member of state parliament. Later we met on a tram and had a talk.
They didn’t become an item until 2006, when they met for lunch during the “politically quiet time of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games”.
Despite declaring in 2011 that he wished to marry Ms. Gillard, the couple never married.
