Gillard accuses the opposition of misogyny
Source: AFP |
June 13, 2013, Thursday
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AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday accused the opposition of a pattern of misogynist behavior, branding a menu for a party fundraiser "grossly sexist and offensive" after it featured a dish named after her that offered "small breasts" and "huge thighs."
The menu was used at a dinner in March for Mal Brough, a former government minister under prime minister John Howard and now an opposition candidate for September elections.
Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey was the guest of honor.
The menu only surfaced on Twitter yesterday, listing a dish called "Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail: Small Breasts and Huge Thighs and A Big Red Box."
Conservative Liberal opposition leader Tony Abbott condemned the description.
But the flame-haired Gillard, whose comments on misogyny last year won her global acclaim, said it demonstrated a "pattern of behavior" within Liberal ranks and called for Abbott to stop endorsing Brough.
"I've certainly been very clear on my view about Mr Abbott," Gillard said, in reference to the parliamentary misogyny tirade which was directed at her conservative counterpart and went viral.
"Here we are yet again, Mr Abbott saying that he condemns behavior but we see a pattern of behavior. It doesn't go away," she said.
Gillard said Abbott had previously stood next to signs which described her in a sexist way, including as a bitch and witch, and young Liberals had hosted a function where jokes were made about the death of her father.
"And now, we have Mr Brough and Mr Hockey sat a function with this grossly sexist and offensive menu on display. Join the dots," she said.
Gillard said that if Abbott were elected prime minister on September 14, as predicted by opinion polls, "it wouldn't be a question of what's on fundraising menus, we'd see this lack of respect for women littered throughout all of his government policy documents."
The menu emerged a day after Gillard, the nation's first female leader, reignited the gender war with a speech in which she said the conservative opposition would marginalize women if they won the upcoming election.
"On that day, 14 September, we ... don't want to live in an Australia where abortion again becomes the political plaything of men who think they know better," she said.
The opposition called the comments a "crude political ploy from a desperate PM" and demanded an apology.
The menu was used at a dinner in March for Mal Brough, a former government minister under prime minister John Howard and now an opposition candidate for September elections.
Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey was the guest of honor.
The menu only surfaced on Twitter yesterday, listing a dish called "Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail: Small Breasts and Huge Thighs and A Big Red Box."
Conservative Liberal opposition leader Tony Abbott condemned the description.
But the flame-haired Gillard, whose comments on misogyny last year won her global acclaim, said it demonstrated a "pattern of behavior" within Liberal ranks and called for Abbott to stop endorsing Brough.
"I've certainly been very clear on my view about Mr Abbott," Gillard said, in reference to the parliamentary misogyny tirade which was directed at her conservative counterpart and went viral.
"Here we are yet again, Mr Abbott saying that he condemns behavior but we see a pattern of behavior. It doesn't go away," she said.
Gillard said Abbott had previously stood next to signs which described her in a sexist way, including as a bitch and witch, and young Liberals had hosted a function where jokes were made about the death of her father.
"And now, we have Mr Brough and Mr Hockey sat a function with this grossly sexist and offensive menu on display. Join the dots," she said.
Gillard said that if Abbott were elected prime minister on September 14, as predicted by opinion polls, "it wouldn't be a question of what's on fundraising menus, we'd see this lack of respect for women littered throughout all of his government policy documents."
The menu emerged a day after Gillard, the nation's first female leader, reignited the gender war with a speech in which she said the conservative opposition would marginalize women if they won the upcoming election.
"On that day, 14 September, we ... don't want to live in an Australia where abortion again becomes the political plaything of men who think they know better," she said.
The opposition called the comments a "crude political ploy from a desperate PM" and demanded an apology.
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