Australia’s first female leader Julia Gillard has spoken out against the “glossed over” sexism of her tenure, saying it would have ended political careers had it been about race, in an interview published on Saturday.
Gillard’s time in office was marked by slights on her gender and constant commentary on everything from her style of dress and haircut to her partner and tone of voice.
Because it was about gender, Gillard said her treatment was “glossed over more easily” and it would have been very different had it been a race issue, giving the example of conservative leader Tony Abbott campaigning in front of placards that said “Ditch the Witch”.
“If I was the first indigenous prime minister, and Abbott had gone out and stood next to a sign that said, ‘Ditch the black bastard’, I reckon that would be the end of a political career,” she said.
“And I even think with all the nutty stuff you see in American politics, if a Republican went and stood next to a sign that said, ‘Ditch the black bastard’ about President Obama that would end a political career.
“It’s not less because it’s gender. But it’s been treated as less.”
Gillard, ousted in a party coup which reinstalled her predecessor Kevin Rudd last month, also offered an insight into what was going through her mind when she delivered the misogyny speech in parliament which went viral across the globe.