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January 19, 2007
Julia Gillard, the deputy leader of the ALP, stated recently that it was much harder for women with children to rise to the top in politics. She ius reported as saying in the Bulletin that:
‘If Peter Costello genuinely thought about it, could he be the mother of three children, be Treasurer for more than a decade and be next in line to be Prime Minister? Could John Howard have been a mother to his children as opposed to a father and be in the position he is in today? The frank answer is, no’.
A truism I would have thought, despite conservative raving on about Gillard being anti-male, or causing businesses to go bankrupt. Gillard is asking John Howard and Peter Costello to reflect to themselves: to ask could they be where they today and have been born a woman; to reflect on how there are still more challenges for women and particularly women who are trying to balance work and family and work and family in stressful jobs that require a lot of travel.
Bill Leak
Most, though not all, of those woman who have succeeded in politics have done so after their children have grown up. So if women are to participate in the workforce then we need a substantive child care policy:
Gillard went on to say that in terms of making work and family fit together better that:
...the reality is that politics, like a lot of our workplaces, at the moment is pretty unforgiving when it comes to helping people balance work and family life. What we have got to do at all levels of our society and in all of our workplaces, including the political workplace, be looking for creative ways to help women and men, mums and dads balance up work and family responsibilities.
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I like the dog eying the leg...nice touch