Former prime minister Julia Gillard has high hopes for women in positions of leadership in Australia but believes there is much work to do.
Launching her book, My Story, in front of a packed Sun Theatre audience in Yarraville on Tuesday, Ms Gillard shed light on her bumpy ride as Australia’s first female prime minister.
“I am trying to share some insights about resilience – this is no self-help book, I’m no guru I assure you,” she said.
“But I have tried to share some insights about what it’s like to be in difficult and pressurised moments and still find the strength to go on with it all.”
Ms Gillard said her gender explained some of the challenges during her prime ministership, but it didn’t explain everything.
She hopes her book will start conversations about women and leadership in society today.
“A lot has changed for Australian women in my lifetime, but there’s still a lot to do,” she said.
She said there was still “whispering in the back of all our heads”, both men and women, and deep-seated stereotypes about what women do and what men do that we pass on to our sons and our daughters unconsciously.
“If we can get to grips with some of those voices it will be a different age and a different world for that generation,” she said.
Ms Gillard spoke about her disappointment at the lost opportunity brought about by internal party dysfunction and the success of Tony Abbott’s anti-carbon tax crusade.
“I wanted and I hoped that we could stabilise the Labor Party and have a long-term Labor government, but that turned out not to be possible.”
