Julia Gillard speaks out on sexism

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In October 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard made an impromptu speech in the Australian parliament setting out the misogyny she endured for years as a prominent female politician. In 2022, she spoke to Alex Collins about her career defining-speech which has been viewed online by millions of people.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Julia Gillard speaking in February 2012. Credit: Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
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0:47.0	Hello, you're listening to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Alex Collins.
0:56.0	This week, in partnership with the BBC 100 Women List, we're bringing you stories about inspiring and influential women from around the world. I'm taking you back to October 2012 to one of the most famous speeches ever made in the
1:02.0	Australian Parliament. Prime Minister Julia Gillard was reacting to claims by opposition leader
1:07.5	Tony Abbott that she was sexist. I remember this sort of drumbeat in my head and I don't want to use any bad language.
1:16.2	So I'll put it in the language of saying to myself, for heaven's sake, don't tell me I am going
1:24.1	to go into that chamber today and be lectured about sexism.
1:28.2	That did awaken in me a really keen sense of frustration, a kind of cool anger,
1:35.4	because I'd bitten my lip a lot of times when very sexist things had happened
1:39.8	and I hadn't responded and it just struck me as so unfair indeed cruel that somehow this
1:46.9	was all going to be reversed upon me. It's the 9th of October 2012, a day of high political
1:53.0	drama. Peter Slipper, the Speaker of the House, has been caught up in a scandal. He's been
1:58.6	accused of sending offensive texts about women.
2:02.1	Gillard had defended Slipper, but she knew her support for the speaker would be used against her
2:07.5	by her political opponent, Tony Abbott. She thought that Abbott would brand her as sexist.
2:12.5	She had endured sexist comments by Abbott, including some about her appearance.
	...

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