The main topic of gender equality in politics, and more precisely in the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, are at the forefront of Australian politics, because our first female Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has been ousted from the greatest ranking role in Australia's political system. Many reasons on her departure have already been bandied about, yet none more so compared to question of gender. Surely, if there is genuine gender equality pervading the Australian life style, gender should not have been a concern in her downfall. Gender equality is much like chasing rainbows, always beyond one's grasp, and something that all women strive to embrace and uphold.
All things being equal, an even playing field would be used for granted, but not too in Australian politics. Female politicians have competently held their portfolios over a long time, nevertheless, it seems to be an unspoken code of conduct that this has been only acceptable, provided females don't get ideas 'above their station' ;.As in Gillard's case, her position as Prime Minister has seen an avalanche of unprecedented personal abuse never witnessed before in Australian politics. From statements such as for instance 'stuff her in a chaff bag, and drown her at sea', 'her father died of shame', 'why won't she just lay down and die?' to 'being kicked to death' have all been relentless ad hominem attacks, completely unwarranted, and to all decent, polite members of society, 'beyond the pale' ;.The most recent insult mocking Gillard's genitalia on a published menu, along with the questioning of her partner's sexuality, demonstrated that standards had plummeted to an all time low, in an effort to humiliate and denigrate the Prime Minister, even further.
The Prime Ministerial role should command respect and be valued, inside our society regardless of the gender of its occupant Gender Equality. Yet, over the last three years our first female Prime Minister has been the mark of ridicule, rumour and innuendo from shock jock radio presenters, an illustrator's depictions of pornographic images circulating as a 'free for all' on the internet, and personal abuse instigated by the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues, such of that has never been witnessed before in Australian politics. No male Prime Minister could have been the recipient of the gutter style rhetoric emanating from a few of the 'great unwashed', during parliamentary sittings, or to own been on the receiving end of this kind of biased and right-wing media and last, however, not least, the shock jocks whose intentions merely reflected their particular spitefulness, biases and hatred of Gillard.
Exactly why is after that it that some men resort to baser types of rhetoric, in an effort to create down ladies in authority? In the end, shouldn't political opponents focus on 'playing the person, not the ball' if indeed our political landscape reflects the leadership necessary for Australia to navigate its future? These questions are on many people's minds, and deserve to be thrashed out in people arena. Gillard's minority Labor Government has successfully passed over 500 pieces of legislation, in a single of the very most hostile parliamentary environments since Federation, and the merits of we were holding often sidelined in favour of personal invective. Just a few of the achievements were an introduced Carbon Pricing Scheme, the National Broadband Network, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Gonski Education Bill, Paid Parental Leave, Tobacco Plain Packaging Reforms, Fair Work and My Super changes, along with the Murray Darling Basin Plan. All successfully achieved, in a very toxic, minority government, whilst steering the country through a global economic crisis.