466-468 Sydney Road
Coburg VIC 3058
Phone: (03) 9350 5777
Fax: (03) 9350 6613
Peter Khalil is the Federal Labor member for Wills. He was elected at the 2016 federal election and re-elected in 2019 and 2022. He is currently the Special Envoy for Social Cohesion.
Peter is a second generation Australian. His parents migrated from Egypt to Melbourne for a better life. Thanks to the visionary policies of Labor governments, his family had access to public housing, affordable healthcare and a quality education. Peter was able to attend university and forge a career spanning the public and private sectors.
Australia has always been called the lucky country. But Peter’s parents told him that they were the lucky ones – lucky to be Australian. Peter’s parents instilled in him the importance of giving something back to the country that gave his family so many opportunities.
As a local MP, Peter is a strong advocate for his community and committed to service. He will continue to fight to deliver cost of living relief and affordable housing, to create secure, local jobs and to take action on climate change, invest in quality education and affirm Australia’s role in promoting human rights globally.
Peter’s lived experience as the child of migrants reinforced to him that one of the greatest things about Australia is our multiculturalism and diversity and he is passionate about strengthening ties across different communities. As Special Envoy for Social Cohesion, Peter is looking at the ways we can strengthen our society, whilst addressing real and emerging threats to our social cohesion.
Growing up in public housing in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, Peter worked the late shift at the local servo, as a cleaner and on building sites whilst studying Law and Arts at Melbourne University before later attaining a Master of International Laws from ANU.
Prior to his election to parliament, Peter was the Executive Director of Corporate Affairs, Strategy and Communications at SBS and a Victorian Multicultural Commissioner. He also has served as a foreign policy and national security adviser to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He has also worked as a public servant at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, played tennis semi-professionally and worked overseas.
Peter lives with his wife and two children, plays tennis in his spare time and is a one-eyed Collingwood supporter.