The Australienne

So Australia has its first female Prime Minister (Julia Gillard), who was installed following something of a coup within the ruling Labour (sorry “Labor”) Party. The emotion in the voice of the defeated PM Kevin Rudd was palpable. It’s a harsh place, Australian politics, even by British standards…….

On reflection, having a female occupy the position of head of government isn’t perhaps the biggest sea change in history. After all, plenty of other major counties have already achieved this (the UK, Canada, India, New Zealand).

Indeed, it seems to have escaped the Australian media’s attention that the country has had a female Head of State since 1952! Furthermore, the current Governor General (the Queen’s day-to-day representative) is also a woman, as are two of the State Premiers (jn Queensland and New South Wales). Evidently the country isn’t nearly so bloke-ey as it is sometimes held to be…….

Although she’s lived in Australia since she was five years old, Julia Gillard was actually born in Britain, in Barry in South Wales. As far as I can tell, the last UK-born PM was Billy Hughes, way back around the time of the First World War!

In this context, it is interesting to note that the US doesn’t allow anyone not born in the USA to become President. This is a strange rule in a nation, like Australia, built on the concept of immigration. It means that Miss Gillard could never have assumed this role in the USA; an interesting comparison to make. (Even the UK has had at least one PM born overseas, Bonar Law, born in Canada.)

Anyway, interesting times ahead. Australian Prime Ministers tend to be a bit anonymous in Britain, where most people can recall Whitlam and Menzies; oh and Paul Keating but only because he man-handled the Queen!

See also Daniel Bowen's piece on this on his Diary of An Average Australian (which is always worth reading anyway!). http://www.danielbowen.com/2010/06/24/julia-gillard-pm/