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Julia Gillard isn’t done giving male politicians a lesson 10 years after her ‘misogyny speech’ directed at Tony Abbott made her a hero to many around the world.
Australia’s first female prime minister told The Project on Sunday that sexism still plagues Australia despite some positive changes since her time in the top job.
Host of the program Lisa Wilkinson took a subtle swipe at Australian leaders that followed Ms Gillard, suggesting they could all learn a lesson from her example.
‘Julia, since leaving politics, you have gained credit for being the best kind of ex-prime minister – dignity, humility, grace, not engaging in the daily political cycle,’ Wilkinson said.
‘Have you ever got the call-up from Malcolm (Turnbull) or Kevin (Rudd) or Tony (Abbott) asking exactly how you do that?’
‘No. I’m not running a training course,’ Ms Gillard replied to the laughter of the panel.
Former prime minister Julia Gillard says 10 years on from her famous ‘misogyny speech’ much still needs to be done to combat sexism
Mr Turnbull, Mr Rudd, and to a lesser extent Mr Abbott, have continued to offer their opinions on the issues of the day after their respective periods as prime minister.
Ms Gillard, who has gone onto charity and advocacy work since leaving politics in 2013, said that although the ‘misogyny speech’ had ‘reverberated’ around the world there is more to be done.
‘Misogyny is not fixed,’ she said. ‘There’s still a lot of things we do have to change.’
‘We know that violence against women, domestic violence, gendered barriers in careers, when you look at the top of the pyramids in our society, whether it’s politics or business, you still disproportionately see male faces.
‘So more to do. Social media, of course, presents its own challenges.’
She revealed for the first time the famous speech, where in parliament she rebuked a question from Mr Abbott in October 2012 by saying she would not be ‘lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man’, almost didn’t happen.
Ms Gillard in her new book Not Now, Not Ever about the speech and what still needs to be done to combat misogyny recalls that her advisors were surprised when she told them ‘I’m going to take the reply’.
‘Normally I held myself above these day-to-day political tactics,’ Ms Gillard said.
Lisa Wilkinson, who interviewed Ms Gillard on Channel 10’s The Project, said the former female leader was setting a good example on how to behave once out of office, that her male counterparts should be following
Julia Gillard delivers the famous ‘misogyny speech’ in October 2013 in response to a motion moved by then opposition leader Tony Abbott
‘I thought about it, considered not doing it and then decided I would because I was sick of all the – there was another word – but I will use the word nonsense.’
Despite getting almost immediate overwhelming feedback by those congratulating her when she went back to her office, Ms Gillard said it was only later during a trip to India that she realised the full lasting and global impact of the speech.
‘An Indian policewoman said to me, “Great speech”, I really remember that moment, because I remember thinking, wow, this isn’t just going through media in various parts of the world but being noted by women around the world,’ Ms Gillard said.
‘That gave me a sense that maybe it was going to be there for a lot longer than I first imagined.’
The speech has spawned countless memes and reportedly was even a favourite often replayed in the Obama White House, especially when dealing with Mr Abbott.
Ms Gillard said one thing that had improved since her time as prime minister was that sexist behaviour was more likely to be named and shamed.
Ms Gillard’s ‘misogyny speech’ was reportedly a favourite that was often replayed in the White House during the presidency of Barrack Obama (pictured)
Tony Abbott was infamously photographed in front of derogatory signs towards Ms Gillard as he addressed a political rally in 2013
‘I think it is impossible to imagine a woman in parliament today could be called the things I was without there being an uproar and political consequences,’ she said.
Mr Abbott was infamously photographed standing in front of a sign that said ‘ditch the witch’ while addressing a rally protesting the Gillard government’s carbon tax.
Another infamous moment was when during a speech that he thought was not being recorded shock jock Alan Jones said that Ms Gillard’s recently departed father, John, had ‘died of shame’ because of the lies she was telling.
Ms Gillard also believed women’s voices and issues were increasingly shaping federal politics and indeed that been ‘the story of the May federal election’, which saw a record number of women elected to parliament.
The baton now must be passed onto younger women, Ms Gillard said.
‘I think that there are young women who don’t want to just take it (the baton) but seize it and run with it.
‘This is a really powerful generation that’s coming up.’
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