Background
He was born in Perth, Western Australia, and was a Youth Employment Placement Officer, prison officer and farmer before entering politics.
He was born in Perth, Western Australia, and was a Youth Employment Placement Officer, prison officer and farmer before entering politics.
On 13 August 2007, Wilkie was ordered to leave the debating chamber by the Speaker David Hawker for heckling Deputy Liberal leader and Treasurer Peter Costello. In the 2007 Federal Election a slight swing of 0.19% towards the Liberal Party meant Wilkie became the only incumbent Labor member to lose his seat (in Cowan, the only other seat Labor lost in the 2007 election, incumbent Graham Edwards did not contest the seat as he retired from federal politics at that time), defeated by Liberal candidate Steve Irons with a margin of 0.11%.
He was a member of South Perth City Council 1993-1998.