Julia Gillard, question from an American

[steve2470]

I've made some Aussie friends, and as a result, gotten more interested in Aussie politics. Particularly Julia Gillard.

Was she forced out mainly because of sexism and misogyny ? To my American eyes, she seems like a pretty decent human being.

Thanks for tolerating my sincere question.

Steve

[Matilda]

1. Depends on who you talk to.

But overall - yes, I do think a great deal of her image was shaped by the ugliest form of sexism and came principally from arch-misogynist Tony Abbott and his puppet-master, Rupert Murdoch, aided by right-wing shock jocks (our versions of Rush Limbaugh). And the lazy, ignorant Australians who allow these people to form their opinions.

That said, I think Julia was a generally a good negotiator and a capable administrator. Sadly, she lacked good political judgment, and the first evidence of it was the knifing of a sitting prime minister in his first term. It was organised by the right-wing of the Labor party, but it was Julia herself who had to take the fall. She allowed herself to be used by them to take power - it would have been better to have had an open leadership challenge so the Australian public knew what was happening; instead, it was all done at night, behind closed doors, with the people waking up next morning to find their PM had gone. She was always tainted by that, and somebody with better political instincts would have known it would never be a good look. And this was the first of a number of misjudgments of public perception and mood, but it was one she never recovered from.

There are many - especially feminists - who think she was practically a saint and won't hear a word against her; I'm not one of them. But I think the sexist attacks on her were cynically employed to play on the feelings of people who were already angry at the way Kevin Rudd was removed, and it worked.

But she led Labor at a time of great challenge, when the party had to rely on the support of cross-benchers (Independents and Greens) to pass legislation, and she managed to guide through an enormous number of bills successfully. It was a shame she didn't wait to take power in the natural course of events – I doubt Tony Abbott would be in office now if she had.

[steve2470]

2. thanks for a thorough answer

I wish her well in her new ventures.