Speaking at the Melbourne launch of journalist and former Victorian state Labor minister Mary Delahunty’s latest book, Gravity: Inside the PM’s office during her last year and final days, Ms Plibersek said she thought that by responding to the sexist remarks she might be just be giving power to the “trolls”.
“We thought that we would be seen as self-indulgent, that we would be seen as defending our own personal positions. Indeed, a few of us earned the title “hand bag hit squad” from Kelly O’Dwyer – ironically for calling out sexism!” Ms Plibersek said.
“But as I think about it now, maybe that was a mistake; maybe if we’d been more methodical in calling out this crude behaviour more firmly from the start, perhaps we could have reined it in.”
Asked if she thought the feminist cheer squad helped or hindered Ms Gillard, the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs said: “Sadly, for the most part, the feminist cheer squad arrived on the field after the game was over.”
Ms Plibersek also said following Ms Gillard’s defeat and her exit from politics she was concerned that young women would reflect on the treatment of Australia’s first female Prime Minister and be turned off a career in politics.
“All those girls who were so excited about the first female prime minister heard grown men in positions of responsibility say that talking about the prime minister’s body parts obscenely was all in good fun; talking about her looks, her relationship, her family,” she said.
“I was very worried about the message it sent to women thinking about pursuing a calling to representative politics.”
