Wow. Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, calls out opposition leader Tony Abbott on his ongoing misogyny. I’m impressed.
Was initially going to think this was a usual argy-bargy loads of non-content about a non-scandal (I have no idea of the context but that is what you would assume from politicians) but actually she did very well there, tears him apart and makes him look a right idiot 
Nice! She shreds her opponent on a topic you can tell she’s been looking forward to (and has THOROUGHLY documented), but then says that in dealing with this other guy who apparently sent offensive text messages they should wait for the court case to finish before deciding whether or not to give him the boot. I wish our current US politicians were that clear and open about their opinions, about their personal involvement in the matter, and about what they think is the best reasonable course of action. No doublespeak there!
Well, actually the guy resigned later that day, or at least I surmise from the other videos!
I’m not hip to Australia’s system of government but I think he resigned as Speaker and resumed ordinary member of parliament status before what happened in the video went down. But then Abbott wanted to force him out of parliament altogether and that’s when Gillard went on the warpath.
It was after. One of his staffers is taking him to court for sexual harassment, including the text messages, and Tony Abbott tried to have him removed as Speaker for this. The rant was at three o’clock, while the vote was at four. Gillard’s side won, but the Speaker stepped down an hour or two later.
And that’s why I don’t respect Gillard for this. The best interpretation of her actions is that the rant was meant to serve a political purpose, and she was trying to discredit Abbott in order to swing the vote in Slipper’s favour.
I will* always* respect a woman who can look a sexist idiot in the eye and tear him apart live on television.
Oh, and never cross a Welsh girl, as my girlfriend likes to remind me.
In Australia, Gillard is an embarrassment. She berates the leader of the opposition.
She defends the speaker of the house who sexually harassed a gay staff member. The guy also is on charges of fraud and referred to female genitalia as similar to mussels. Yet Gillard defends this guy but lays into Abbott.
Some critics in Australia on Gillard -
If you do not want to read the links in full just go by the titles -
“We expected more of Gillard”
“Gillard again has shown poor judgment”
“Prime Minister Julia Gillard is a woman of no principle”
Hm, that’s not what I took away from the video. She’s not defending the speaker, she says quite bluntly that his texts were offensive and horrible. She’s mostly tearing into Abbott for getting on his high moral horse trying to get the speaker thrown out when Abbot himself is just as bad. It sounds like she wants to wait for the court’s decision about the speaker before deciding what to do with him.
I would prefer that you not speak for me. I am an Australian, although do not live in Australia right now.
I think it’s because you’re looking at it out of context. Given the timing (just an hour before a vote on whether Slipper should remain as Speaker), my interpretation of Gillard’s actions is that it’s as much about discrediting Slipper’s attacker as it is about attacking a misogynist. I do not believe that she spent fifteen minutes of parliament time attacking Abbott’s character just because he’s a douchebag.
If it was me, I’d use a more reasoned argument for or against Slipper remaining as Speaker, and only blast Abbott after the vote was over - but that’s because I consider Gillard’s attack a non sequitur.
It’s unusual for Australian politicians as well.
That’s your opinion only. Many of us feel that Tony Abbott is an embarrassment.
You could find similar ‘news’ stories critical of Tony Abbott, or any other prominent politician if you wanted to.
This blog gathers lots of international reactions.
yeah those speedos are a bit suss.
But Julia is my favorite red haired, atheist, prime minister ever!
And how.
What drivel. You purport to make a statement - to a largely US readership - about what is happening in Australia without any attempt to be objective or factual. Instead you are being presumptive and misleading.
Polling a few weeks back put Gillard’s performance approval ratingat around 42% (compared to Abbott’s 36%). There is no way this has fallen to an extent that could possibly validate your statement that she is, in Australia, “an embarrassment”. She is certainly not universally loved (who is?) but your bald statement is simply a falsehood.
As to your cites, two are from News Limited papers and are editorials. News Limited runs an editorial line so anti-Gillard it is like being in an alternate universe. Your final cite is from a Fairfax owned paper. It is the opinion of one man, and here’s another Fairfax comment piecesuggesting that the mainstream media had substantially misjudged Gillard and her speech.
Personally, I thought Gillard’s speech was impressive and probably justified. I also thought it was probably cynically timed and arguably a bit hypocritical, in context. Whether you forgive her that, in the circumstances, probably depends on your politics.
But either way, how about instead of telling these boards how it is “in Australia” you just express your opinion, or if you are going to tell us how it is, you make some small attempt at research and objectivity?
You left off “unmarried, partnered, childless…”
This Tony Abbott/Leigh Sales interview tickles my fancy. I cannot link to it enough 