Julia Gillard She Does It Again
The Chat is running a series of pieces on cardinal figures in Australian political history, examining how they changed the country and political argue.
When Julia Gillard was sworn into office as Australia'southward first female person prime government minister on a dank Canberra morning time in 2010, it seemed like the ultimate glass ceiling had been smashed.
But this momentous occasion was marred by the onslaught of sexism and misogyny Gillard endured from the opposition, and specially the mainstream media, over the side by side 3 years of her term.
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Since she lost the prime ministership in 2013, Gillard has fostered a legacy that extends beyond parliamentary politics, with a focus on women's rights, education and mental health.
The two Es: education and equality
Born in Wales in 1961, Gillard's family moved to Australia in 1966. She grew up in Adelaide as the daughter of a nurse and aged care worker.
Gillard was educated at local public schools before studying at the University of Adelaide and and then the University of Melbourne.
She told the Harvard Business Review last year her interest in the student movement, protesting teaching cutbacks, was a formative experience:
That's what spurred an activism and appointment in public policy in me, and I went on to lead the pupil motility nationally … people had said, 'You really should consider politics'. It was a tedious dawning over time that it would be a fantastic way of putting my values into action — and realising that someone like me could do it.
Graduating with an arts/constabulary caste, Gillard joined police firm Slater & Gordon in 1987 and was a partner by 1990.
While she has said she felt "quite at dwelling house in many means" as a young adult female in the "larrakin" culture of the law firm, she also worked on affirmative action campaigns in the 1990s. She was a founding member of Labor women's back up network, EMILY's List Australia.
She continues to maintain this focus on gender and education in her post-politics advocacy.
Going to Canberra, creating history
Gillard was elected to federal parliament in 1998 and was a frontbencher by 2001. In 2007, with Labor'south election victory, she became deputy prime number minister and minister for teaching, workplace relations and social inclusion.
Yet, despite the popularity of prime minister Kevin Rudd, the Labor party became increasingly frustrated with his leadership manner alee of the 2010 federal election.
These tensions saw Gillard claiming Rudd for the elevation job in June 2010, in 1 of the most dramatic episodes in recent Australian political history.
Gillard's unexpected promotion would accept lasting consequences for her, the Labor Party and Australian political civilisation.
It initiated a "coup culture" in Australian politics, where a series of challenges saw the removal of iv out of the five almost contempo prime ministers.
A sexist backlash
The unprecedented removal of a popular outset-term prime number minister during an ballot year also prompted an overwhelming backlash from the opposition, the media and the public.
Gillard faced accusations of disloyalty that marred the historic significance of her victory and status every bit the "first woman". It as well unleashed what seemed like a ceaseless tirade of sexism and misogyny that she endured for the adjacent 3 years of her term.
The more than prominent examples include broadcaster Alan Jones saying Gillard should exist put in a "chaff purse" and taken "out to sea". A menu at a Liberal National Political party fundraiser described a dish as "Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail – small-scale breasts, huge thighs and a big blood-red box".
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Opposition leader Tony Abbott stood in front end of - and tacitly endorsed - sexist placards.
A productive parliament
After the 2010 federal election, Gillard had to work with a minority authorities.
But in a sign of her formidable negotiating skills, Gillard's term as prime minister was extremely productive.
Despite the surrounding political turmoil, 570 bills were passed by the Senate, with key achievements including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the child abuse royal commission, a carbon price, education funding and paid parental get out.
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It wasn't all warm and fuzzy
Yet not all Gillard's policies are so fondly remembered.
On the same day Gillard delivered her famous "misogyny voice communication", her government passed welfare reforms that moved single parents off the parenting payment and onto Newstart (now called JobSeeker Payment). This reduced people'south payments by $threescore to $100 a week, disproportionately affecting women.
Her asylum seeker policies and opposition to marriage equality also garnered widespread criticism from progressive Australians, particularly the LGBTIQ+ community and refugee advocates.
'I will not be lectured by this homo'
Twelve iconic words have come to ascertain Gillard's legacy:
I will non be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man.
This statement launched a baking 15-minute speech, in which Gillard called out the sexism and hypocrisy of Abbott during Question Time in Oct 2012.
The anger and frustration she felt nearly Abbott – known for his sexist sentiments – and the systemic double standards she'd endured for years, resonated with women around the globe.
Though information technology was initially critiqued by the Canberra Press Gallery, which accused Gillard of "playing the gender bill of fare", the speech went viral.
It has become the definitive moment of her prime ministership and is frequently the only thing people overseas know almost Australian politics.
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Earlier this yr, it was voted the "nigh unforgettable" moment in Australian TV history past a Guardian Commonwealth of australia poll. Final calendar month, a senior advisor to former-The states President Barack Obama revealed they often watched the oral communication whenever they were frustrated with and so-prime number minister Abbott.
The misogyny oral communication has even entered into the pop cultural canon, inspiring young women today to create memes and TikToks paying homage to those famous words.
Changing the way we talk nigh sexism and politics
Gillard'southward misogyny speech and her time as our first woman prime minister inverse the way that politics and sexism were talked nearly in Commonwealth of australia and highlighted the toxic nature of parliament.
Rather than "playing the gender card", Gillard drew attending to it, calling out the sexism and misogyny that many women in politics had to silently endure.
Speaking with Gillard last year in grooming for my doctoral research, she noted how the chat around gender and sexism is "everywhere at present", and that people are far more aware of and probable to challenge gendered double-standards.
In recent years, we have seen multiple women politicians breaking their silence, from Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young suing fellow senator David Leyonhjelm for defamation, to former Liberal MP Julia Banks calling out "gender bias" and "bullying".
Post-politics: 'what would Julia practise?'
Gillard lost the Labor leadership in 2013, when Rudd got his revenge and his old chore back.
But she has left a lasting legacy as a role model for girls and immature women. This stems not just from her political career, but for the fashion she has gracefully moved on.
Since leaving politics, Gillard continues to piece of work in the areas she cares about, with high-profile appointments in education, mental health and women's leadership. Earlier this month, she was also appointed as the next chair of medical inquiry giant, the Wellcome Trust.
Like all politicians, she'll proceed to accept her critics, only her mail service-political life and demeanour has largely been admired. Gillard's quondam foe, Abbott, fifty-fifty attended the 2018 unveiling of her official portrait.
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And her career continues to resonate with people, particularly women.
This was recently seen when she received a handwritten notation from a stranger on a flight, which thanked her for beingness "such a strong, intelligent and unapologetic role model for myself and so many of my peers".
The note added that the author and her female colleagues used the phrase "WWJD" or "what would Julia exercise".
As the woman explained: "It'due south our rallying cry to exist the absolute all-time at our jobs".
Source: https://theconversation.com/how-julia-gillard-forever-changed-australian-politics-especially-for-women-138528