Welcome to the Lodge, Julia!

Posted by Jenni Colwill on 7 September 2010 | 1 Comments

Julia Gillard has won the day and with the support of two of the independents, will form a Labor government.  We are going to have Australia's first female in the Lodge, our first atheist, and the first person to be our Prime Minister who has never been married.  Blimey!

While Tony Abbott has been behaving in a stereotypically blustering male leader fashion (that is, with lots of demands, challenges and strong statements) over the past two weeks, Gillard has cleverly focussed more on collaboration than on competition, and it has paid off. 

Let's hope that this signals a leadership style that she can maintain.  To do so will require strength and courage; she will have to stare down the boy's own club, Labor's so-called faceless men, and trust in her ability to lead in a different, more collaborative, way. 

You can do it Julia - the women of Australia are behind you.