Christine Nixon retires from public life

From a media spectacle to the privacy of retirement The former Police Commissioner, Christine Nixon was admitted to hospital last weekend in acute abdominal pain. Whereas her gut ache has eased, the other pain -the one that went to her heart –caused by months of public scorn will not cease so quickly.

Continue Reading →

The PM’s childlessness

The media is inclined to represent women as saints or virgins, whores or mothers. However our Prime Minister does not belong to any of the above groupings. But fortunately for Julia Gillard she does belong to another group. Our first female PM belongs to the increasingly large cohort of women who have chosen to remain childless.

Continue Reading →

Symbolism

Photo: A gathering of women leaders. It’s official. After weeks and months of deliberating on the date of the next federal election we now know we’re off to the polls on August 21st. But before we cast our vote we need to talk about the appointment of our first female Prime Minister in terms of its symbolism.

Continue Reading →

So who are you going to vote for?

The news today that President Obama had called Kevin Rudd before he called Julia Gillard doesn’t surprise me. Obama was rightly shocked over the dumping of his Australian colleague as we all were and still are. How do you just dump a Prime Minister? Sure opposition leaders are regularly disposed of in Australian politics: Beazley, Crean, Hewson, Turnbull -the list is very long. But this has got to be a […]

Continue Reading →

The Making of Julia

The political players are well known but not so widely acknowledged is how they really feel about their parliamentary colleagues. The long drawn out three year electoral cycle is about to end with the federal election now very close. Should the ALP be returned with Julia Gillard as the legitimate elected Prime Minister, Gillard will immediately set about choosing her cabinet. So does she appoint those who helped bring down […]

Continue Reading →

After the “coup d’etat”

Photo: Julia Gillard on HMAS Broome, The Age 8/7/10 It is two weeks since the ‘coup d’etat’ that removed Kevin Rudd from the office of Prime Minister of Australia and saw Julia Gillard sworn in as our first female PM. There was ‘rejoicing on the streets’ and women urged their daughters to aim high. What has our first female PM achieved in this short time? Her first week in office […]

Continue Reading →

Parliamentary Democracy

Should we legitimize Julia Gillard’s caretaker position and turn her into our elected Prime Minister? What will it mean for us – the public? Will we get our concerns heard? Voting in Australian elections is compulsory for those of us over 18 years of age.We are compelled to vote in federal, state and local elections but are our voices heard.

Continue Reading →