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My political handicap is bigger than yours

Tory Maguire

by Tory Maguire

02 Apr 01:00pm

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Filed under: Aung San Suu Kyi, Barack Obama, Gender, Julia Gillard, Politics

72 comments

Hopefully at some point in the near future Julia Gillard will get to hang out with the newly-elected member of the Myanmar parliament Aung San Suu Kyi and they can trade jokes about what it’s like being a woman in politics.

Being a woman was the least of her obstacles… Picture: Getty Images

Of course Suu Kyi has been the beneficiary of those two killer political weapons, a husband and children, so she might have some trouble relating to the hardships our own Prime Minister faces on a daily basis.

After all, Suu Kyi might have spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest, but no one has ever called her “deliberately barren”. Her father might have been assassinated by her political rivals the year she was born, but I bet Germaine Greer thinks her stylish backside is just fine.

A throwaway line at a party is a throwaway line at a party, but Julia Gillard has shown the first sign of starting to feel a bit sorry for herself.

According to the SMH this morning, at a party last week she said she and Barack Obama were good mates and: “I tell him, ‘you think it’s tough being African-American? Try being me. Try being an atheist, childless, single woman as prime minister’.”

If that is what she said, it was a stupid thing to say.

There’s no doubt Barack Obama and Julia Gillard have racked up a few “firsts” between them. But one first Obama can claim is that during the primaries to gain the Democratic nomination for the 2008 Presidential Election, he was the first ever nominee to be cloaked in Secret Service protection. No prizes for guessing the trigger for that decision.

The biggest genuine threat our Prime Minister has faced so far was the threat to her dignity after her own office sparked a ruckus that ended in her losing a shoe.

I am in the camp that maintains the PM does cop it more than her male counterparts because she is a woman. Years of moderating the comments on an opinion website makes you acutely aware of the level of gender-based scrutiny she comes under.

But the attacks on her atheism and her childlessness have come only from certain quarters of society. I think most voters couldn’t care less.

The embarrassing stuff about her earlobes, and the size of her backside (Greer’s words) are no worse than the attacks on Tony Abbott’s ears, or John Howard’s eyebrows or height.

And none of it is going to get her shot or locked up.

Gillard’s polling is dire, but as she keeps telling voters, she’s made of tough stuff and she doesn’t give up. It’s one of the biggest pros she’s got in her bag. Even people who don’t like her give her credit for being tough.

If she starts blaming her gender, non-parental status and lack of faith in God, she’ll just end up sounding like a whinger, and no one votes for one of those.

Most commented

72 comments

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    • Johnno says:

      02:18pm | 02/04/12

      In reality Suu Kyi,  despite this election, she has no strong power in Burma just a seat the military junta still run the show in burma.

      Reply

    • Terry2 says:

      08:29am | 03/04/12

      “Healthy discontent is the prelude to prgress”......Gandhi

    • Dan says:

      02:22pm | 02/04/12

      The SMH article says: “Ms Gillard regaled guests with a joke she often shares with the US President…”

      It was a joke. I think you are taking it a little to serioulsy and literally. To suggest that she risks becoming a “whinger” is very harsh. Especially because of all the stupid gender bais stuff she cops (as you have conceded) and which in my view she deals with very well.

      Whatever you think of Gillard, she is the opposite of a whinger.

      Reply

    • Az says:

      02:40pm | 02/04/12

      Invest in a dictionary next time mate.

    • Angel says:

      02:46pm | 02/04/12

      Funny you say that. I was at a function in 2010 and Ms Gillard as guest speaker told a joke.  Gawd, I’ve never laughed so hard.  It was absolutely hilarious.  Everyone was in hysterics.  She really did leave the room on a very light note.

      The joke she told?  “There will be NO carbon tax under a government I lead”.

      We’re still recovering from that one, and she is now laughing at us.

    • Karen from Qld says:

      03:07pm | 02/04/12

      If she is not a whinger then why whine on and on about Tony Abbott.

    • Scotchfinger says:

      03:14pm | 02/04/12

      @Angel - politicians lie. All the time. About everything. The only thing that counts is who is sitting in the Big Chair. Last time I looked *peers into the distance* it was Juliar. It’s time to swallow your anger. Also, I bet you got free champagne and fancy little sausage rolls, am I right? So fond memories, only fond…breathe…smells of warm grass and fresh milk…soothing touch of mummy, hands stroking…eyes are heavy…sshhhh….

    • Ando says:

      03:17pm | 02/04/12

      Dan,
      The only people who have a hang up about the PM being a female are those who suggest a gender bias.

    • Denny says:

      03:31pm | 02/04/12

      It would only be an issue to Dan if it was Tony abbott who made the joke. Then it would be deadly serious and would prove that he is not fit to be PM.

      Double and triple standards are entry requirements to the labor/union movement.

    • Andrew says:

      03:47pm | 02/04/12

      And scothfinger, the reason they lie, because people like you keep saying, who cares they all lie. How about holding them to account and maybe they will stop lying so much.

    • thatmosis says:

      04:12pm | 02/04/12

      I think a ceratin person put her whinging into perspective when he answered her comments with- “Actually, Julia, I’d vote for a 150kg, shaved-headed Morrocan lesbian with a wooden leg if she kept her promises, dismantled the disastrous carbon tax, cut government waste, put people into work, fought green extremists, defended reason, defied our new tribalism and wound back limits to our freedom to speak. “
        This sexist card is the last ditch plea for people to believe what she says and vote for her and it wont work. She lied to the people, like Anna did and was chastised quite severely, she plays the sex card, like Anna did and was chucked out on her ear, she is selling Australia down the tubes with failed policy after failed policy and these are the things people will remember, not the huge arse, the pointy nose, the stilted speech, the crap dress sense, the eveybodies out to get me attitude, these mean nothing in the grander scale of things, its the lies and spin and deceit that will lose her and her party Government.
        Oh and by the way she is a whinger and it will get shriller as we get closer to the election until only dogs will hear it which is okay because we stopped listen months ago, bad news for the dogs though.

    • Brian Taylor says:

      09:06am | 03/04/12

      “it was nly a joke”  if that was the case, then why was it a running joke told often?
      must have some basis in what Julia really feels don’t you think?
      but with the “real Julia, fake Julia” its a bit hard to tell.
      Julia has pulled the “poor me, I’m a woman in a man’s world” trick before.
      Sorry Julia but you give the females a real bad name.
      There are many women out there who could do a much better job than you, after all, not everyone lies and backstabs to get what they want

    • DuffyMum says:

      02:31pm | 02/04/12

      I could not care less if Gillard was a man or a woman - what I do care about is just how she became PM. The first reason, and I believe the true reason, why they thought Rudd needed to go was because of the polls. Yet Gillard’s polls have been constantly worse than Rudd’s ever were and she’s still there. And so began my hatred of the current PM. I even like Keating now way more than her, and that is saying a helluva lot if you knew how much I hated him when he deposed Hawke. It is not about gender, not at all. It is all about her and the ALP’s lack of respect for the voting public’s decision.

      Reply

    • year of the dragon says:

      02:38pm | 02/04/12

      “Years of moderating the comments on an opinion website makes you acutely aware of the level of gender-based scrutiny she comes under.”

      Just as the smear attacks by Bligh on Newman did more harm than good, so will attacks on Gillard based on her gender, physical features or personal preferences.

      There are plenty of legitimate criticisms to make before you resort to that.

      Reply

    • Brian Taylor says:

      09:13am | 03/04/12

      @year of the dragon…“There are plenty of legitimate criticisms to make before you resort to that”....maybe so, but why take all the fun out of poking fun at Julia lol

    • Scotchfinger says:

      02:43pm | 02/04/12

      What a crazy article. Seems to suggest that just because Julia has not had credible death threats made against her or been under arrest, that her period of governance has been like an evening at a fancy ball. Quite frankly a lesser person would have long ago crumbled at the steaming vitriol poured onto her since the little canker Rudd was deposed. She is much tougher than Howard ever was, because he had the full support of his party. She is truly a Teflon Woman. Despite that, I don’t actually like her very much.

      Reply

    • Karen from Qld says:

      03:04pm | 02/04/12

      If Gillard is so tough why does she turn tail and walk out of Parliament when the opposition start to ask the hard questions. If she is so courageous why did she not take the carbon tax to an election before introducing it.

    • Ando says:

      03:21pm | 02/04/12

      Karen,
      If Gillard is anything she is tough. Weak people done get where she is,end of story.

    • Scotchfinger says:

      03:34pm | 02/04/12

      I said she was tough, not stupid; a carbon tax would be defeated in a referendum vote.

    • Rose Bush says:

      03:51pm | 02/04/12

      You can not compare her to Howard - He had a much much longer entirety of service in politics and he didn’t knock someone off behind closed doors - he did it at the elections. I don’t dislike Julia at all - I never married and did not have children so what - but she is not a leader but with her at the helm we are heading into lots of trouble. So many people I know are really - really worried about all these new taxes that are already being put on us in the last couple of years.

    • Andrew says:

      03:56pm | 02/04/12

      What a load of crap, you need to learn the difference between been tough and been pigheaded and stubborn. Howard put up with a lot more bile and BS then she ever has and for a lot less reason. If she wants the job to be easier maybe she actually get some decent policies and and introduce them without %^$#&*^them up.

    • Karen from Qld says:

      04:08pm | 02/04/12

      Ando tough people don’t run away from the tough quesrtions and public scrutiny. Gillard rode on the coat tails of Rudd to get into Govt. She turned on him and backstabbed him to become PM only after Shorten and Co rounded up the numbers for her. She lied to the elecotrate in order not to be defeated at the election.. She sold her soul to Windsor, Oakshott, Wilkie and the Greens in order to retain the Prime Ministership. She has weaklings for Cabinet Ministers and a Caucaus made up of lemmings She resorted to dirty backroom deals to bring Slipper on board.and she supports the likes of Craig Thompson in order to cling to power. This is not the sign of toughness. It is a sign of deceit and treachery and a sign of someone with no intgegrity. She is where she is because of her union ties, a media that refuses to ask her the tough questions and will not put her under the same scrutiny as Abbott and a weak and dysfunctional Govt that has no one else other than Rudd to take her place.

    • Joan says:

      05:49pm | 02/04/12

      Gillard- `She is truly a Teflon Woman` ??? yeh her promises don’t stick

    • Terbo59 says:

      07:07am | 03/04/12

      don’t you know that Teflon is bad for your health…

    • Anubis says:

      02:47pm | 02/04/12

      C’mon now Tory when you say “I am in the camp that maintains the PM does cop it more than her male counterparts because she is a woman” you know that is a Gillard mode of speech - an outright lie. That furphy has well and truly been discredited since before Bob Brown raised it as an issue.

      People dislike Gillard because she is a liar, an unrepentant Socialist, and because all her policies reek of the stench of half-baked brain farts. Additionaly, her support of corruption (Craig Thomson anyone), possible intrusion into the investigation into Thomson (it has taken longer to look into Thomson’s credit card usage than it took to conduct the Nurenberg trials). If there is someone out there that dislikes her simply because she is a woman then they are well and truly in the minority. It has nothing to do with Gender but is all about the policies and the message. Gillard, and the bulk of the Federal Labor Party, are simply grubs that are doing nothing but harm to the nation in order to retain their grasp on power for as long as possible - bugger the consequences.

      Reply

    • Debbie says:

      03:06pm | 02/04/12

      Well said Anubis, couldn’t have put it better myself.

    • scumbag says:

      03:14pm | 02/04/12

      So, let me guess, you’re on the dole, right?

    • Inky says:

      03:24pm | 02/04/12

      “it has taken longer to look into Thomson’s credit card usage than it took to conduct the Nurenberg trials”

      To be fair, I’m something like 2 months into an ongoing Credit Card investigation after I reported to my bank that I did not receive product for purchase.

    • Happymonkey says:

      03:28pm | 02/04/12

      @ scumbag.

      Excuse me if I’ve missed your sarcasm, but.. are you simple?

    • Anubis says:

      03:49pm | 02/04/12

      @Inky - two months, you have barely scratched the surface. What is the Thomson investigation - going on 3 years

      @ Scumbag - never been on the dole in the 36 years I have been in the workforce

    • Scotchfinger says:

      03:55pm | 02/04/12

      scumbag - people on the dole don’t read newspapers unless they live at home with mum and dad. Plus, rarely for a Punch writer, spelling and grammar were generally excellent. On the other hand, you, Sir, fail to use a capital to begin a proper noun. An apology is in order.

    • subotic says:

      09:16am | 03/04/12

      “half-baked brain farts”.

      Now there’s a *technical* term if there ever was one…

    • TimB says:

      02:55pm | 02/04/12

      IMO, Julia Gillard’s biggest problem is that she’s Julia Gillard.

      Reply

    • Karen from Qld says:

      02:58pm | 02/04/12

      Julia Gillard is going to be the biggest political handicap for any woman thinking of a career in politics. She has set the cause for women to succeed in politics back many decades. From now on women who wish to enter the political arena are going to have to fight off the Gillard stigma. An already tough career choice for women has got even tougher beceause of her incompetency and untrutworthiness. She certainly has not done her gender any favours.

      Reply

    • Rosie says:

      04:04pm | 02/04/12

      Thanks Karen!

      The best comment! I never once thought of it in that context because I was too enthralled in being sad and disappointed for the way as our first female PM she came into high office. I have always maintained that Julia Gillard under different circumstances would have been naturally awarded the trust and respect given to any Australian PM. Today, hardly anyone listens to her because she has managed to turn away those that felt she deserved to be given a chance.

    • Anjuli says:

      03:00pm | 02/04/12

      I doubt if any other woman or even a male politician in Australia would be able to bear what Suu Kyi has suffered for her people .Her story is a lesson in perseverance to get in the end, what should have been in the beginning,  without all the heart ache she has suffered at the hands of the military.

      Reply

    • curly shirley says:

      03:25pm | 02/04/12

      Try telling Nelson Mandela or Marwan Baghouti that house arrest constitutes suffering.  Yes, house arrest is bad enough but it is
      luxury compared to what many other political prisoners suffer for being black or being Palestinian. Let’s just keep everything in perspective as she was relatively well treated by her political opponents.

    • AdamC says:

      03:32pm | 02/04/12

      Curly Shirley, last time I looked, Suu Kyi never killed anyone, unlike Mandela or Barghouti. As you suggest, some perspective is warranted.

    • RyaN says:

      04:29pm | 02/04/12

      @curly shirley: How about the FACT that Mandela was convicted of high treason, as well as the following:

      8 January 1982 attack on the Koeberg nuclear power plant near Cape Town, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the formation of the ANC, the Church Street bombing on 20 May 1983, killing 19 http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t802967/ , and the 14 June 1986 car-bombing of Magoo’s Bar in Durban, in which 3 young people were killed and 73 injured.

      Suu Kyi is NOTHING like the blood thirsty Mandela of his younger years.

    • luke09 says:

      03:01pm | 02/04/12

      Gillard said, “I tell him, ‘you think it’s tough being African-American? Try being me. Try being an atheist, childless, single woman as prime minister’.”
      She also should add deceitful, tricky, untrustworthy etc… to help explain how hard she has it.

      Gillard’s keeps telling voters, she’s made of tough stuff, presumably she has a brain made of concrete because she must be thick as a brick to not realise the carbon tax is not wanted and contributing to her government’s problems but she keeps persisting with it.

      Reply

    • nihonin says:

      03:22pm | 02/04/12

      Try being an atheist, childless, single woman as prime minister’.”

      So Australians who don’t tow the Labor line or believe everything that utters from Julia Gillard’s mouth, are a group of bigots, parentists, partnerists and a sexist lot of bogans.  She really does have a serious reality problem.

    • Rosie says:

      03:13pm | 02/04/12

      A good read and a pleasure to comment on! I hope Gillard and the women folk in her Labor caucus the likes of Roxon, Plibersek would know when to keep their mouths shut when defending the female gender. It is obvious they do this ‘self pity’ thing to score political points. They would be better off leaving the point scoring to beat Tony Abbott to their supporters and concentrating on being just a good govt.

      “According to the SMH this morning, at a party last week she said she and Barack Obama were good mates and: “I tell him, ‘you think it’s tough being African-American? Try being me. Try being an atheist, childless, single woman as prime minister”

      What a dumb comparison and a very cheeky rude behaviour joke or not. I am surprised no one has said that it could be easily taken as a racist remark! I know if I was Obama I would be offended specially in the 21st century. She left out the word ‘first’ in Obama’s case and hers. This was something every decent Australian female and African American should have been proud of. To say that Obama was going to find it tough because as President of the US he was an African American is racist if not sucking up to the US President.

      So often she is compared to John Howard - sorry but Gillard doesn’t come close and not even closer to Suu Kyi who knows and have experienced the unimaginable toughness she had to endure standing up for her people. If Gillard could take a bit out of what Suu Kyi had to go through, it would go a very long way with her being in high office.

      Let’s face it Gillard’s problem is how she became our first female PM. Coping the big arse, large earlobes etc etc is how some of us were able to vent our disapproval for what she agreed to doing after telling us how loyal she was to the elect PM Kevin Rudd. I was sad and disappointed because I had no respect for her there and then.

      I used her atheism, unwed status etc to state my case. If the most powerful person in the land could boldly announce he/she was an atheist, I couldn’t see any reason why he/she should hold back on something like same sex marriage.

      Deal with it Julia - its to late for a win but you may just save part of the furniture!

      Reply

    • RyaN says:

      03:19pm | 02/04/12

      Wow, now you know why EricK was banned, his posts were actually logical unlike this complete and utter crap above.

      Reply

    • Rosie says:

      03:35pm | 02/04/12

      RyanN if you had any sense you would have read the article and found something worthwhile to post. What would it take for the likes of you to just acknowledge the hardships people like Suu Kyi had to face standing up for her people?

    • RyaN says:

      04:19pm | 02/04/12

      @Rosie: I stopped reading at this sexist nonsense “Years of moderating the comments on an opinion website makes you acutely aware of the level of gender-based scrutiny she comes under.”

      If anything she has been treated favourably for being a woman, hell I know of many, many women who voted for her merely because of her genitalia and nothing else.

      But then again, sexism is ok, as long as its the female doing it, right Tory?

      Rose we have seen the blatant display of rank sexism on this site, its called banning someone whose opinion happens to be critical of sexism against males.

    • Rosie says:

      06:07pm | 02/04/12

      My apologies RyaN! I didn’t realize you looked at it in that context! Sexism has never bothered me as I have always enjoyed the attention and respect given to me by the opposite sex. However, I do understand where you are coming from and realize how difficult it can be for my male counterparts sometimes. As for Erick, I have had my say about the matter and with all the justification from Punch I still wasn’t convinced he should have been banned when all they could have done was not publish anything not to their liking.

    • Jimbo75 says:

      03:24pm | 02/04/12

      “I am in the camp that maintains the PM does cop it more than her male counterparts because she is a woman.”

      People have such short memories.

      Some of the posters, mannequins, papier-mâché statues and other mockeries of John Howard as part of the anti-war or free David Hicks protest were just disgusting.

      Has anyone ever donned a prison suit and a dog collar and crawled along the main street wearinga Julia Gillard mask?

      The best people can claim is that she cops it as bad as anyone else.

      Reply

    • SimonFromLakemba says:

      04:39pm | 02/04/12

      Massive difference between sending people to war to die and Gillard.

      Turns out the protesters were right ( I was one of them ). A war for nothing in the end.

    • Karen from Qld says:

      05:26pm | 02/04/12

      Simon So I guess the fact that our troops are STILL in Afghanistan has nothing at all to do with Gillard and Labor.

    • Ben says:

      06:17pm | 02/04/12

      @Simon “Massive difference between sending people to war to die and Gillard.”

      Youre not addressing Jimbo75’s argument. ‘Little Johnny’, ‘Ratty’, ‘The Rodent’, ‘Lying Little Creep’ were par for the course long before the troops went to Iraq. I suspect the real essence of your argument is that conservatives are fair game, progressives a protected species.

    • Simonfromlakemba says:

      07:51pm | 02/04/12

      Some of those names from his own party! I addressed his argument. Too bad you only see what you wish

    • Happymonkey says:

      03:25pm | 02/04/12

      Last Essential Media poll (fortnight ago) had Gillard and Abbott satisfaction/dissatisfaction ratings nearly identical for men and women. Isn’t it time we dropped that argument now, Tory?

      Just sayin’.

      Reply

    • Markus says:

      04:39pm | 02/04/12

      Didn’t you know, monkey? Women have been brainwashed by the patriarchy to believe that Gillard is a poor leader of a disfunctional party purely on the basis she is a woman.

      That the dissatisfaction ratings are nearly identical across the two genders just proves this!

    • Rosie says:

      03:52pm | 02/04/12

      Tony Abbott is the real loser in all this gender, atheist, unwed living in sin at the Lodge with boyfriend Tim etc etc. No doubt it is used by Laborites to beat Tony Abbott. Poor Tony every word he utters these days are being listened to by the media waiting for a ‘gotcha’ moment. Somehow, the media seem to have no problems taking it out of context so Tony Abbott is at fault for saying the wrong thing. My hope for Tony Abbott is that the Duke of Edinburgh is famous for the ‘foot and mouth disease’ but has survived it very well. Here’s hoping the media will not pose these ‘gotchas’ once he becomes the next PM. Let’s also hope Gillard is replaced as opposition leader for a male so as to put an end to this gender thing.

      Reply

    • nossy says:

      04:07pm | 02/04/12

      @Rosie thank you for that message from the Liberal Party Rosie!  hahhaha love ya honey!

    • Lapun says:

      04:32pm | 02/04/12

      Rosie, I think the replacement you hope for is inevitable.  I would assess that she has put the move for any form of female equality back 50 years at the very least.  The ‘Females of the Species’ that I talk with agree with me - and remember that they ‘Are more deadly than the Male!

    • nihonin says:

      05:12pm | 02/04/12

      ‘No doubt it is used by Laborites to beat Tony Abbott.’  Of course it is Rosie, but you know what. more and more people are switching off or tuning out.  Now it’s more about the competence of government to lead and legislate good policy, that benefits the people of the country, not just the minority.

    • Andrew says:

      04:02pm | 02/04/12

      So been a black president in such a racist country as the USA is tough, and been a woman Pm in a sexist country like Australia is tough but somehow they both got elected in democratic elections, I can only assume americans didnt realise Obama was black and Australians didnt realise gillard was a woman. Slightly understandable in the australian case but very hard to believe in the case of the USA.

      Reply

    • Bryan says:

      04:09pm | 02/04/12

      Tory, Gillard’s problem has nothing to do with gender, marital status, how many kids she has, her dress size, her hair colour, the AFL club that she follows, her previous job, what school she went to, her favourite music… the list goes on. And I am sure there are a few more (excuses) that will be offered up.

      Simple answer - ask men and women around Australia where the problem is. The overwhelming majority (not the fringe dwellers) will give you a response that is replicated into a top 2 or 3 all around this country. Will Gillard take note of these and then do something about it? Probably not.

      As a experienced journalist I am sure you know what these responses are.

      Reply

    • TimR says:

      04:19pm | 02/04/12

      Pretty sure her biggest handicap is being a sneaky, underhanded, back-stabbing liar. She cops abuse because of that, not because of being a woman.

      Reply

    • John says:

      05:00pm | 02/04/12

      Democracy is a Cooperation run by the International Bankers and Media Moguls which pretty much educates to International Fascism, which is far worse then National Fascism. At least National Fascism, there is some form of love for the people and the nation. International Fascism has no love for nobody, but the love of looting, and destroying.  Suu Kyi is just a poster child for this international criminal demoncratic regime.

      Reply

    • Robert Smissen of country SA says:

      06:14pm | 02/04/12

      What is the big deal about female PM? ? For years feminists have been telling us that there is no difference when it comes to doing a job (unless you are making babies, then being female is important) Female PMs are a dime a dozen, it is NO big deal

      Reply

    • Mattb says:

      06:54pm | 02/04/12

      Well, we all know what gillard’s problem is, she’s untrusted, pure and simple. The electorate has stopped listening.

      But whats tony abbotts excuse. Tony and Julia continue to hand the ‘most hated batten’ to each other on a weekly basis. One week it’s tony that wins the ppm poll, next week it’s Julia. Neither poll high numbers either.

      Why can tony drag himself up in the polls, why is he just as hated as Julia?. Is the man that despised that, whilst the voting public cant wait to vote out Julia and get the libs back, they don’t want tony either?.

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      09:32pm | 02/04/12

      Who cares about PPM, opposition leaders are rarely popular. 57-43 says a lot more about who australians want then PPM

    • Against the Man says:

      07:36pm | 02/04/12

      Human beings male or females will be judged by their values.

      Gillard back stabbed Rudd when she claimed his government ‘lost its way’ yet her government has lost its way and then some. Reflects her values.

      Lies. carbon tax. Lies. She gets things done. Lies. Four corners.

      Inconvenience of the Queensland floods on her schedule.

      Low life with low values. That is Gillard.

      Enjoy Gillard dear ALP as she destroys you for her own well being.

      Reply

    • Emmy says:

      05:54am | 03/04/12

      Kirner,Lawrence, a heap of female Democrat leaders (except Stott Despoja), Keneally and Bligh. Were they also picked on because they are women or because of the position they held and the competency with which they did the job.
      There is a bit of a pattern here is there not.

      Reply

    • Father John says:

      08:05am | 03/04/12

      The US “first lady” must give her hubby a dressing-down after hubby’s voluptuous, public matings with our toughie….she with pale hand on his tiny butt and he giggling and trying not to reciprocate with all those cameras watching, and nobody smiling at the trysting mates.

      Reply

    • Tell It Like It Is says:

      08:58am | 03/04/12

      I am sick to death of hearing about Gillard being a victim because she is a woman. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT as much as she or anyone else would claim. And anti-feminists comments are no worse than the other sorts of nasty slurs you mention which so many other PM’s have withstood. No one ever batted an eyelid when for years Keating referred to John Howard so disparagingly as “little Johnny”.  But that was clever because, well,  Keating was a Labor PM. Perhaps that means the public didn’t expect any sophistication from him!  But Howard was a much bigger man and not hampered by his stature. I am not aware of him responding in kind to Keating or anyone else.  He is and was dignified and has incredible and obvious integrity.  Ms Gillards handicap stems from her core personality and political philosophy. Nothing more, nothing less. She simply does not have the ‘right stuff’. And how insulting for her to draw a parallel with Maggie Thatcher. No comparison. If we had someone like her running this country we would be in much better shape. To say the least she wouldn’t pick such clowns as Swan and Carr and others. And that is the reality.

      Reply

    • Wayne Kerr says:

      10:01am | 03/04/12

      Exactly. I heard about this last night and my firts thoughts were “what a load of crap” I’m either a baby boomer or Gen X so technically taht should put me in one of the highest mysoginistic categories in Australia but I couldn’t give a rats that The Prime MInister is an unmarried aethiest.  She was voted in I would imagine on a large female vote but as time has passed everybody has seen that she is not a good Prime MInister and that is why she has it so hard.  Absolutely nothing to do with her gender, marital status or religious beliefs.

    • Brian Taylor says:

      09:33am | 03/04/12

      The simple answer to Julia’s prblem about being picked on just because shes a female….have a sex change, even then no one would trust her

      Reply

    • the duke says:

      10:43am | 03/04/12

      Or actually notice the difference !!!!

    • Traxster says:

      06:20pm | 03/04/12

      Terry2….
      were you trying to type….
      progress
      or
      regress ?

      Reply
 
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