Prime Minister Julia Gillard has conceded that being Australia’s first female prime minister has had “uncomfortable moments”, given the population has long been used to watching a “man in a suit” lead the nation.
Gillard made the comments following her address on the Asian Century to the Foreign Correspondents Association Thursday, according to The Age.
She said she believes Australia is still getting used to the idea of a female prime minister, given it’s far removed from the “norm” of the physical attributes of previous leaders.
“I am not a man in a suit and I think that has taken the nation some time to get used to. I think it is probably still taking the nation a bit of time to get used to,” she said.
Gillard believes Australia’s second female PM will have an easier time of dealing with being different to the “norm”, and that it’ll get easier again for the third.
“And then everybody will get over it and forget about it and no one will even bother to comment any more.”
Read Gillard’s address on the Asian Century made in the lead-up to her five-day trip to China.