Eva Cox, University of Technology, Sydney

When Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave her now famous speech attacking Tony Abbott, millions of women around the world cheered.

It is universally agreed Newstart is inadequate, especially for the long-term support of individuals or families.

Media stories about possible changes to superannuation tax concessions generally focus on the “dangers” of reducing the unfair benefits of better off super contributors.

The death of the first – and so far only – female British prime minister raises the question of how to judge her contribution to feminism and leadership.

There is an odd consensus emerging between conservative Liberals opposed to their own leader’s paid parental leave scheme and defenders of the Gillard government’s version of the same policy.

Can the Productivity Commission review commissioned by the Abbott government recognise the possible failure of the market-model funding of many early childhood services? This rather broad term now covers services that offer mixes of education and non-family care for children below school age.

The federal government is abandoning children’s rights to subsidised non-parental care.

The idea that there are policies of particular interest to women goes back to the suffrage era at the turn of the 20th century.