Is the hairstyle of NSW Premier Kristina Keneally a political force of its own that could help others struggling with their public appeal?

I'm nobody's puppet, I'm nobody's protege, I'm nobody's girl.

It is an unquestionable hit with the public and today the #KKHairAvatarDay hashtag started trending on Twitter. Earlier this week it was reported her breezy coiffure is being specifically requested by salon patrons, with celebrity hairdresser Joh Bailey saying it was “extremely popular” with customers. “It’s fresh, it’s appropriate to her position, it’s very well-groomed - she’s obviously having it done a lot,” Bailey told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Someone said to me that [her hair] has a lot of movement in it, and that sort of says that she’s doing something.”

Kristina Keneally’s hairstyle is very much part of the NSW Premier’s personal brand which has made her the most popular political leader in the country despite the government she leads being openly loathed by voters. She’s building her leadership credentials - playing a starring role in the negotiations this week’s COAG health summit - but there can be little doubt that her telegenic qualities have given her an edge when it comes to cutting through with the electorate.

The most surprising thing about what happens when you put Keneally’s do to male politicians is that rather than making them look like cards out of a game of Guess Who some of them actually look, well, plausible. For example, it makes Kevin Rudd (above) and Tony Abbott (below) look like troubled French film directors.

Peter Garrett’s political career has been struggling lately. Perhaps he could do with some Keneally cut-through?

Deputy PM Julia Gillard looks after her hair but would something more radical suit her?

Or Barack Obama, whose approval ratings have plummeted following the divisive healthcare debate in the US.

There’s an election underway in the UK and Labour’s Gordon Brown appears to be on the nose. He’s never been the best-presented man in British politics, but…

Of course in the interests of balance we should also see if it works for Nick Clegg and David Cameron.

Tasmanian premier David Bartlett will be struggling to rebuild his credibility after going back on his promise not to do a deal with the Greens.

And Queensland Premier Anna Bligh - known for appearing regularly in a hard hat but maybe it could be replaced with the Keneally look?

Most commented

41 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Cecil says:

      02:40pm | 21/04/10

      I am sure shes a nice person, her hair looks neat ect but its not her or her hair I will be voting for. A vote for her is a vote for her whole disfunctional Party. She can shave her head bald and do the cha cha on the Harbour Bridge and she will still not get my vote

    • acker says:

      02:50pm | 21/04/10

      Cripes Julia Gillard looks like the spitting image of Maggie Thatcher in that shot, perhaps that is how she will look if she ever becomes P.M….Alternatively Labor might pre-select Kristina Kennealy to a safe seat like Reid after the next state election, which I still think will be a struggle for her to win against Homer Simpson.

    • shabangabang says:

      02:51pm | 21/04/10

      I want to see a UFC match between Ray Martin’s hair and KKeneally’s hair refereed by David Boon’s mo. Or, could we rename April KKapril and everyone must have a KKeneally hairstyle.

    • All says:

      02:56pm | 21/04/10

      If Rudd thought it would improve him in the polls then he would hire a stylist tomorrow to fit a rug until the genuine article grew into place. Also what is the change in the Gillard photo other than the colour.

    • Moi says:

      02:59pm | 21/04/10

      Paul, are we not a tad beyond reducing female politicians to their hair styles and appearance? I am assuming that this piece was written with your tongue in your cheek but it simply isn’t funny and still relies on sexist observations.

    • Brian B says:

      03:08pm | 22/04/10

      Lighten up Moi! Kristina’s hair style is a positive feature for the lady as a politician, one who is having some success as a NSW Premier following a string of male failures.

      You are the one who is making a sexist observation.

    • Moira says:

      05:28pm | 27/04/10

      Oh Brian, such a predictable response…seems to be the only way some people can respond to observations of sexism, racism, homophobia etc.  We’re either told to ‘lighten up’ or that we’re being ‘politically correct.’ 

      The reduction of women politicians to their physical appearance should be read in the context of a much broader, pervasive and general practice of emphasizing the importance of a woman’s appearance above all.  On it’s own, it’s funny.  But I simply cannot detach it from the wider issue faced by women who attempt to direct energy and professionalism into something other than their looks.

      I’ll be a post-feminist in a post-patriarchy.

    • Ellis Wyatt says:

      02:59pm | 21/04/10

      Whenever I see photographs of Nobody’s Puppet, I get these mental images of Joe Tripodi and Eddie Obeid.

    • Joan says:

      03:05pm | 21/04/10

      Thanks for the laugh-  Rudd comes up winner with this one - no argument

    • Bob says:

      03:09pm | 21/04/10

      Totally stolen from Crikey - not overly ethical of The Punch is it?

    • clear the lot out says:

      03:11pm | 21/04/10

      Quite a whimsical write-

      but it only glosses over the fact that the NSW Governemnt is a shambles,incredibly unpopular , stupid in the extreme, policy blunderers, the states infrastructure is crumbling and they have no money in the till.

      an “import” who is minding the chair -so when they dump the party at the next state election, they can dump her and the behind the scenes power brokers keep there job
      oh if they get re elected…read above. she will have the gig for 6 months and will be gone

      NSW- settled by convicts and still run by them

    • firstdogonthemoon says:

      03:21pm | 21/04/10

      You stole my idea! This is a crikey competion which I invented and while it is not the funniest thing that was ever on the internet it was invented by me! And you nicked it. Now we are mocking you on the internet.

    • Paul Colgan

      Paul Colgan says:

      03:59pm | 21/04/10

      Hi FirstDog. We started playing about with this on Monday following the item in the SMH and held it over because of COAG. I like your idea too, especially what you’ve done with my hair. Paul.

    • acker says:

      04:07pm | 21/04/10

      “firstdogonthemoon” is a “buddie” of mine on another sporting site and we do support the same team. I must also offer my indignation if this is what happened….Woof ..footscray forever

    • Albie says:

      03:21pm | 21/04/10

      Please don’t perpetuate the belittling of women to only be as good as their hairstyle Colgo and other members of The Punch team.

      I love reading the site but am not impressed by this effort. I know it’s meant to be funny but it just reinforces the notion that a female politician is only as good as her hairstyle our outfit.

      Shame on you.

    • mutton spotter says:

      03:23pm | 21/04/10

      Keneally does appeal to the shallow end of the gene pool,hair over substance is the norm for her dribbler followers,no surprise here,botox imagery ,yeeeth

    • Crikey Subscriber says:

      03:25pm | 21/04/10

      There’s a curious lack of reference in this article to the fact that the hashtag and competition was started by Crikey’s First Dog On The Moon. Nice going, Punch.

    • Saskia says:

      04:25pm | 21/04/10

      Krudd wouldn’t be very happy then that you dare mock him - given that Crikey is the ALP news website in drag!

    • Hilton says:

      10:26pm | 21/04/10

      My eyeballs feel like they are bleeding when I read Crikey, I’m not going to waste my money on a subscription.
      I would have missed it completely if it wasn’t for the Punch.

    • iansand says:

      03:30pm | 21/04/10

      Wilson Tuckey?

      Or David Campbell with his moustache replaced by a mini version of the do?

    • Cry Key says:

      04:01pm | 21/04/10

      @ Crikey Subscriber

      Cry me a river.

    • BTS says:

      04:03pm | 21/04/10

      Staff Meeting 22/04/10:

      Agenda:

      1. Punch Staff should never be allowed near Photoshop again.

    • KK's hair photoshop people... it's everyones says:

      04:18pm | 21/04/10

      Crikey started it this morning, but its the tronz people, why can’t we all play?
      Why can the only people who photoshop this hair be part of something crikey? Doesn’t it add more credibility for your comp for the punch to run with it? Can’t you just all get along? May the best terrible photoshop win?

    • Chris says:

      05:03pm | 21/04/10

      What the hell is this? You want to know why our country is so broken?

      This. This is it. Right here.

      Political discussion is reduced to wedge issues, name calling and stating that the entirety of a person’s career comes down to their hair.

    • Angela says:

      05:56pm | 21/04/10

      Too true, Chris.

      On the other hand, it IS funny. grin

    • iansand says:

      06:23pm | 21/04/10

      Actually, I think our refusal to take our politicians too seriously is one of the country’s strengths.

    • Kate says:

      06:20pm | 21/04/10

      “Im nobody’s guuuuuuuuurl”

      It is frightening this woman is in parliament, let alone Premier.

    • mike says:

      07:10pm | 21/04/10

      Our great premier looks like astro girl. I don’t think she’ll save the day.

    • KKS says:

      09:48pm | 21/04/10

      Her primping only shows how superficial she is and her phony Australian accent! The sooner her government is thrown out, the better!

    • Daniel says:

      09:51pm | 21/04/10

      She is totally Joe Tripodis girl. It is so obvious.NSW Labor is rotten to the core.
      Lets hope in NSW we get a hung parliament like they have now in Tasmania.

    • Barry says:

      09:52pm | 21/04/10

      Paul - why are you so obsessed with trivialising Labor politicians? Is it because Tony “Sara” “The Mad Monk” Abbott is so clearly out in front in the hilarity stakes that you thought, as a champion of the underdog, you’d give more press to those staid Laborites?

    • WKH says:

      05:44am | 22/04/10

      I know who could really use it! Look at the head on Nicola Roxon….That woman needs all the style tips she can get.

    • Daryl says:

      08:24am | 22/04/10

      I don’t think Kevie will go for it. People seem to be happy voting for a cardboard cut-out Prime Minister with a Ray Martin haircut at the moment. I can’t see what else they’re voting for since he’s thrown billions around and either delivered nothing (National Broadband Network) created a costly mess (insulation scheme), wasted taxpayers money (blown surplus, rorting of the school schemes, 2020 summitt, ETS) or forgotten/abandoned election promises (Grocery watch, Fuel watch, no child shall live without a laptop, I’ll turn the boats around, who do you trust on interest rates etc). I don’t know, maybe spin and a hairdo are all it takes in Australia these days? The Media seems to like it.

    • jojo says:

      08:39am | 22/04/10

      I know that this is meant to be a joke but do you even need to mention her hairstyle?  What does this have to do with her ability to function as Premier?  Please don’t tell me that she will be appearing in a 4 page spread in the Woman’‘s Weekly cooking for her children or something like that (or maybe she already has - don’t know cause I don’t read it) ..... sorry but rather than being funny I found this article totally depressing.

    • Liz says:

      12:14pm | 22/04/10

      Cheap, trashy journalism..when did you last do a piece on a male pollie’s hairdo?And don’t say you just did!

    • Hunter says:

      12:39pm | 22/04/10

      Hope Kevvie doesn’t go with it - imagine the hair dryers they’d need to cart about for him then.

    • Scarlet Street Rocker! says:

      12:41pm | 22/04/10

      Paul, excellent article as usual. I don’t find it funny in any way. If anything it is a simple demonstration on the shallow nature of the human psyche. Particularly my own. I am a Labour voter (-after 12years of Tory Britian who wouldn’t be -?) but up until Kristina Keneally (did you know her father was from Drogheda?) became NSW Premier I vowed never to vote Labour in the next State election.  Well thanks to Kristina Labour will get my vote.

    • Russell says:

      06:02am | 23/04/10

      The photoshop bit of this story would have been much easier if they all been given Peter Garrett’s locks.

      Then we wouldn’t have any of the accusations of sexism, or those inane comments about how bad her government is.

      However it wouldn’t have been at all funny. This one was. Nice, Paul, I needed a laugh…

    • JCD says:

      01:29pm | 23/04/10

      All the bemoaners here commenting that once again female politicians are reduced to their looks or manners ... get over it. Male and female pollies are both scrutinised for all manner of things, it doesn’t make it sexist.

      Off the top of my head I can think back to reading articles in the recent past about, John Howard’s glasses, Tony Abbot’s speedos, Kevin Rudd’s monosyllabic voice and ocker language, Peter Debnam’s speedos (again) and Jeff Kennet’s helmet hair.

 

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

The Punch is moving house

The Punch is moving house

Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go

Tim says:

They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]

From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go

Kel says:

If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]

Gentle jabs to the ribs

Superman needs saving

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

28 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free News.com.au newsletter