70 / 164
70
The Witch-
hunt
Sophie Kleiman
Orator of the Year
Winner
Witch is a powerful word. Images of ugly, old, wart-ridden women
brewing evil spring readily to mind. The word ‘witch’ came to
prominence early in JuliaGillard’s reign as Australia’s PrimeMinister,
when the leader of the opposition’s photograph was splashed across
the media in front of a placard reading “ditch the witch.” It was sexist,
rude and downright disrespectful, but little did we realize that it was
the beginning of something that soon became nothing less than a
witch-hunt.
I want to make it clear that I am not interested in whether you
support Liberal or Labor, or even if you agree with the policies under
her government. I don’t care if you think she was a good Prime
Minister or a terrible one. We are entitled to agree and disagree as
we see fit. That is not the point. The point is that Australia’s first
female Prime Minister was subject to unrelenting, unreasonable
demeaning treatment. Why? Largely because she was female and
the first.
From the moment she was sworn in as our first female Prime
Minister, Gillard was fair game it seemed, for Australia’s sexist
blokey, stereotyped attitudes. When she was deputy Prime Minister
it was okay. We could tolerate her. When she was photographed in
her kitchen with an empty fruit bowl and gleaming benches there
were tut-tuts, but we satisfied ourselves with the knowledge that
women of the modern era were entitled to be career women. Fast
forward to the prime ministership and it quickly became evident
Gillard was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. The most
scary part of the witch-hunt was that it was not simply orchestrated
by men; women also were ready to burn her at the stake for her
shortcomings.
It is impossible within the scope of this speech to detail every slur.
But here are a selection: Criticism of her fashion sense and figure
that was demeaning to Gillard and the office of Prime Minister. The
cut of her jackets, the cut of her hair. When she visited Japan in the
wake of the tsunami she was told by Gai Waterhouse to “ smarten up
her appearance and pay a visit to the hairdresser.” Please correct me
if I’m wrong, but Gillard didn’t visit Japan as a contestant in a Miss
Universe pageant, but as a political leader visiting a country battered
by a natural disaster. Were the victims of the tsunami, whom she
met, judging her appearance or taking some consolation from her
interest and support?
10