Australia Gets Its First Female Prime Minister 419
An anonymous reader writes "Julia Gillard has been elected unopposed to the Labor leadership, seizing power in a bloodless Parliament House coup after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided not to contest this morning's leadership ballot. Ms. Gillard will now be sworn in as Australia's first female prime minister. Emerging from this morning's meeting, she said she felt 'very honored' and said she would be making a statement shortly. Treasurer Wayne Swan now steps up as deputy prime minister. He was also elected unopposed."
"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:5, Insightful)
The news value here being a Prime Minister's gender is condescending to Julia Gillard as a politician.
The news value should be "Aus PM changes: Will she drop Conroy?"
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sick of "First X Elected To Whatever Office." Haven't we moved past this yet? Ideas matter. Gender, ethnicity, heredity do not.
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:3, Insightful)
I can't remember the last time I wish I had the points to mod an AC first post up, but this would qualify. It's her policies that matter, not her plumbing.
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:5, Insightful)
Unfortunately no, we haven't. Sadly, we don't yet live in a utopia. Most power structures are dominated by men, racism still exists, etc, etc.
*Should* this be news? No. But the sad fact is, it is.
Different leader, same old party & policies. (Score:3, Insightful)
Unfortunately time and again, women politicians have proven themselves to be just as incompetent and corrupt (especially with their favouritism towards big business and their contributions) as male politicians.
As a women, I have yet to notice any women president or prime-minister leading a western country that has put any additional emphasis over their male counterparts in the same political party on women's only issues: gender discrimination, reproductive rights, healthcare inequalities, etc. So seeing a women as head of state no longer inspires me.
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:5, Insightful)
Really?
You know that Australian political parties outside of minority parties have had a habit of dumping a senior female politician into a dog's breakfast role so she can lose an election? (I strongly doubt this is the case here though.)
What exactly is newsworthy about "the first woman to..."? The gender balance in women pre-selected for electable seats is newsworthy. The gender balance in parliament by party is newsworthy. The first woman to play blurnsball isn't newsworthy, and it is a trite encapsulation of the idea that sexism is about extraordinary individuals, and not every day discrimination against every individual member of a group. Julia Gillard's particular political background, her association with the union movement and her strengths as a minister, are more newsworthy than the contents of her undies.
You know, because Julia Gillard won a Labor caucus vote today, my professional female colleagues suddenly received pay status and seniority top ups to the level of equivalently employed males. In addition, as a result, more women applied for STEM undergraduate positions, post-graduate research, and achieved professional outcomes in line with their performance at University and at work, both institutions suddenly began dismantling their cultures of aggressive hyper-masculinism.
Don't invest Gillard with symbolic imagery: she's a competent minister and ought to be a competent Prime minister. But this doesn't represent the culmination of the day to day struggles of millions of powerful, skilled, energetic women around Australia to achieve in their own lives.
Strewth (Score:5, Insightful)
No she didn't, Australians can spell.
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, for fuck's sake. Do you really think the only difference between the sexes is "plumbing"? Stop listening to feminists and observe the world around you once in a while.
"BUT SHe'S UNELLECTED!! BLAAAAHH!!11!!!!!!" (Score:5, Insightful)
This argument makes me want to kill myself.
Who cares that she was unelected? You voted for a party, not an individual, you moron. The policies of the party are unlikely to change significantly under Julia. The party leader can and is elected or negotiated) by the party, not the public.
I mean are people really this fucking stupid? I'll give you a hint - yes they are.
While I'm ranting, there's another thing I hate. I hate this ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf3KovsW1Zo [youtube.com] Actually I love the ad, it's friggin' hilarious. What I hate is the fact that this is the quality of election campaigning which political advisors think is worth engaging in. I hate this because this indicates that this is the sort of thing people are persuaded by when they decide who to vote for. People are persuaded more by a cute, idiotic cartoon, than actual political records, history and peformance. Those people are fucking stupid.
I mean think about it - Kevin was replaced mostly because he was unpopular with voters, and Julia gives Labor a better chance at the next election. This in itself proves the point - despite things not being significantly different under Julia, this change of leader will sway people's votes. WHY SHOULD IT?! It shouldn't, but it does.
Basically I hate the way democratic politics works, it's crap. And I hate stupid people. Stupid people shouldn't have this much influence.
-Brendan
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:5, Insightful)
Bloodless? (Score:5, Insightful)
Julia Gillard has been elected unopposed to the Labor leadership, seizing power in a bloodless Parliament House coup after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided not to contest this morning's leadership ballot.
Oh come on. Did you really need to tell us that the parliamentary "coup" in Australia was bloodless?
Re:Different leader, same old party & policies (Score:4, Insightful)
Women's only issues? Seriously? I'm going to assume you're just using short-hand for a more nuanced idea, but still the underlying ideology warrants consideration. Last time I checked the fact that I have a penis didn't make reproductive rights any less of a personal, moral, political, and societal concern. Ignoring the fact that I have a mother, grandmother, sisters, female friends, colleagues, fellow citizens, potential future daughters et al, the fact is that there are underlying issues of fairness, law, and justice that make this relevant to me and mine. I'm not Black but I care about, and am directly affected, by racial equality. I'm not a sportsman but Title IX effects me. I'm not a pirate but IP laws effect me. I’m not a Fox viewer but their freedom of speech effects me. I’m not on death row but their experience effects me. All these things effect my life as a citizen and member of society, they speak to my values, my morals, my interests, and my obligations.
Discrimination affects us all and strikes at the basic fundamental underpinnings of democratic society. Sexism is just as much about relegating women as it is about controlling men and the way they live their lives, it affects the effeminate man, the homosexual man, the artistic and the socially awkward.
A woman shouldn't be placing any additional emphasis on these issues, that's interest politics at their worst. Male politicians often care deeply about said issues, their female counterparts are under no heightened obligation to aggressively pursue an agenda because of their testicular inadequacies.
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:1, Insightful)
Sad fact is, the guys who really dictate America's policies are still wealthy, conservative white men with large stakes in multinational mega-corporations.
Re:MBCDE (Score:4, Insightful)
Whoever gets the post has to deal with the Telstra monopoly (bastard child of government and private enterprise with the worst aspects of both and none of the good aspects), so it might go to somebody the PM hates but needs to give an important job to keep a faction happy.
Politics is often quite disgusting if you look at it too closely
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:1, Insightful)
Unfortunately no, we haven't. Sadly, we don't yet live in a utopia. Most power structures are dominated by men, racism still exists, etc, etc.
*Should* this be news? No. But the sad fact is, it is.
The corollary to this is that a large number of politicians do make political capital out of promoting women and minorities. Would Julia Gillard have so actively promoted the book "Party Girls" if she thought it deeply uninteresting that she was a female politician? Would Tony Blair have got all the "Blair babes" together for a photo opportunity in 1997 if there was no political capital in the number of new female MPs? Would Harriet Harman have campaigned for a rule requiring "minimum 50% females in the shadow cabinet" if she thought sexual politics had no votes in it, or would David Miliband have nominated Diane Abbott (rather than himself given he is standing) for the UK Labour leadership if he didn't think merely "having a woman on the ballot" made things more palatable to the public? The rule of thumb still applies: wherever you see a politician, it is a reasonable assumption that they are playing politics.
Re:"BUT SHe'S UNELLECTED!! BLAAAAHH!!11!!!!!!" (Score:2, Insightful)
Basically I hate the way democratic politics works, it's crap. And I hate stupid people. Stupid people shouldn't have this much influence.
I agree. Think about how stupid the average person is, and realise that 50% of people are stupider than that. And these people are making decisions on who should run the country. It's ridiculous. I prefer despotism.
Re:Different leader, same old party & policies (Score:4, Insightful)
So which reproductive rights were you hoping that your penis is granted?
Not sleeping on the couch would be right up there
Re:Bloodless? (Score:3, Insightful)
All smothering.....
No seriously I think the "bloodless coup" bit was more a statement of disappointment that we did not thin out the political gene pool a bit with a few lynchings.
Re:Please (Score:5, Insightful)
Someone tell me if i should hate her or not, the internet has failed me so far
Mate, she's a politician. Surely that's all you need to know!
Re:Is she... (Score:3, Insightful)
A nematode would be an upgrade from Pauline Hanson. Julia Gillard is not from an extremely racist part of Queensland. Her seat may be in the western suburbs of Melbourne, and as someone who used to live there, they're not high up on the social scale, but they aren't filled with extremely racist people, either.
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:3, Insightful)
What exactly is newsworthy about "the first woman to..."?
It shouldn't be newsworthy, just as "the first black president" ought not to get any coverage. However, it's often because of biases (whether intentional or not) that the particular newsworthy event is discussed. At a deep, fundamental level, people want to discuss the change and whether or not it is important.
Of course, there are sometimes novel things that happen which are completely unimportant and morons will go to great lengths to make a big deal out of nothing. I believe this explains the popularity of "First Post" comments on Slashdot.
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:4, Insightful)
Then again, would it be any different if it were wealthy, conservative black men with large stakes in multinational mega-corporations or wealthy, conservative women with large stakes in multinational mega-corporations?
Re:"First Female PM" is not news. (Score:2, Insightful)
You mean half black half white president. he's as much white as he is black. I find it sad that thats not ok to be half white. has anyone seen Barack's mom? I'm half white and if i was elected president i'd sure as hell not forget my white mom or indian dad.
anyway, whatever, i just think it's weird that people perceive him as more black than white and that not racist for some reason.
Re:Is it just me... (Score:3, Insightful)
We had the same thing happen in the UK with our previous government, and it turned out to be a great boon to the economy.
Oh, wait...
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Hopefully it's just you... (Score:5, Insightful)
Given that Australia follows the Westminster system, and our government is a representative one (i.e. we all vote to choose our own electorate's representatives), then no Prime Minister is 'voted in' directly by us (well, unless you live in his electorate). The party with superior numbers in the Legislative Assembly has a leader it elects, and that party is invited by the Governor-General to form government. If the party elects a new leader, then they by definition are the elected Prime Minister.
And if you're suggesting that K. Rudd was any less beholden to the 'big, bad Unions' than J.Gillard, and secured his leadership solely with the aid of non-union aligned factions and a bit of magic pixie dust...
It's like complaining a vote for Liberal is a really vote for Corporate Swill-meisters: the power bases of the major political parties have been pretty much as is for all eternity.
I didn't vote for K. Rudd either, but all the best to Ms Gillard. Just please Julia, dump that dead arse Conroy and whatever wheelbarrow he pushes, tell Fielding to stick his poison apple support, and get on with the job.
Re:I feel almost "raped" (Score:3, Insightful)
In short, if you thought that at the last election you were voting for the prime minister then you are, as per the meme, doin it rong.
Re:Different leader, same old party & policies (Score:1, Insightful)
How 'bout the right not to have sterilization forced upon it? But no government would ever have a forced sterilization program, right? Certainly no feminists have ever suggested such a thing I'm sure.