Why Julia has done well

I know how boring it is to read a rant about politics if you’re not a journalist or a politician. Political apathy is widespread, but I believe the personal really is political and I feel compelled to write this. I too, am appalled by the modern day machinations of the Labor Party; obsessed with making policy decisions based on polling of swinging voters in marginal electorates; led by erroneous powerbrokers dictating the party ditch the ETS and shaft the PM. But I am even more appalled by ill-informed criticisms of Julia Gillard as a person, especially when they come from other women. I believe all Australian women, regardless of where they stand on matters of policy or party, should now be proud of Julia Gillard as our first female PM for the following reasons

• Australia has fewer women in parliament in the lower house than Afghanistan and nine other countries including Kyrgyzstan
• Australia is number 41 in the world for women’s workforce participation
• Australia ranked 20 in the 2009 World Economic Forum's global gender equality report
• Australian women still earn 15 per cent less than men for doing the same work. The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency says female CEOs earn two-thirds of the median wage of their male counterparts and that female graduates entering the workforce earn around $3000 less than male graduates
• Women hold only two per cent of the chief executive officer positions and 8.3 per cent of board directorships in the Australian Securities Exchange- listed 200 companies
• Women make up only 13 per cent of the bench of the Federal Court of Australia
• Women in full-time work earn only 84 cents in the male dollar
• OECD data on maternal employment shows Australia is in the bottom three countries for those with children under 5

The past few weeks have been torturous and the ALP needs to seriously re-evaluate its political strategies. But when Australian women are doing extremely well to become executives, managers, partners or even enter parliament - let alone become Prime Minister – I say good on Julia Gillard.