Overview
Whatever your opinion of Julia Gillard's prime ministership, national politics and gender were as inseparable as Tony Abbott and his speedos between June 2010 and June 2013. Whether it was Howard Sattler's obsession with her sex life or Grace Collier's obsession with her cleavage, none of us were allowed to forget for a moment that Gillard was, is, indeed, a woman. Of course, the nation's first female Prime Minister did not fail to air her perspective to the world with that speech that went viral.
So it's fitting that in her very first public appearance since her June farewell speech, Gillard will appear in conversation with one-time head of the Hawke government's Office of the Status of Women, Anne Summers. After Gillard's exit, the author, journalist and editor wrote, "We are now, apparently unashamedly, a country where bullying, stalking, undermining and outright treachery are not just tolerated but the new way of doing business. So the next time your child comes home complaining about being bullied in the schoolyard, you will have to say, 'Suck it up kid, this is the way we are.'"
Three months down the track, Gillard and Summers will spend two evenings together in the Sydney Opera House's Concert Hall and the Melbourne Town Hall, reflecting on what Gillard's experience meant, and might mean, to the story of Australian politics. According to the promo, Gillard has committed to "a candid and wide-ranging conversation", and there'll be time for an audience-driven Q & A session.
It's the first event in 'Anne Summers Conversations', a series of live one-on-one interviews featuring various personalities to have appeared in Anne Summers' online magazine The Looking Glass.
Julia Gillard and Anne Summers will be appearing at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Monday, 30 September, and at Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday, 1 October. Tickets are available from the Sydney Opera House website and Eventbrite.