Gillard was said to have voiced opposition over paid parental leave.
Labour looked almost certain to win theAustralian election with Julia Gillard at the helm, however has she done a Gordon Brown that will see victory handed to the opposition?
Just a few weeks ago the Australian polls all told of the popularity of Australia’s first female Prime Minister. What a difference a day and an embarrassing leak makes!
The Prime Minister has admitted that she raised doubts over paid parental leave. Paid parental leave was approved during Rudd’s reign and proved to be highly popular with the people. The legislation will come into effect in January 2011 and will entitle both parents up to 18 weeks paid leave at minimum wage rates. Parents may also have up to 52 weeks shared unpaid leave.
However the Prime Minister was said to have questioned the costs of such a policy along with pension rise proposals. She has now been forced into an explanation of her opposition after the cabinet leak was made public.
She angrily defended her actions then, telling reporters in Adelaide: “I understand that some might say that if you don’t sign on the bottom line … as soon as a proposal is put in front of your nose, you somehow you lack passion or enthusiasm for it. Frankly, I believe that analysis is completely ridiculous and absurd.”
She also defended her stance on paid parental leave saying; “when these proposals were raised … the question in the forefront of my mind was are they affordable?” However she maintained that once she looked into the proposals in more detail she became supportive of them. She also angrily dismissed Liberal accusations that she was against pension rises because the elderly did not vote Labour, saying that she had devoted her whole life to support equal opportunities.
On the question of the leak, it is certain that someone is out to undermine the Prime Ministers election campaign, but Ms Gillard has said that she will not assume is it a cabinet leak and will therefore not be asking for an investigation.
So just what has the leak done to her popularity? Well today’s Australian media is full of the leaked story and with the pension rises and parental leave being some of the most popular Rudd legislation, it remains to be seen what the people will make of the leak, whether they accept Ms Gillard’s rather shaky defence or not.
Perhaps the former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be able to offer a few comforting words. His own election campaign in the UK plummeted when his microphone picked up comments he made about a Labour voter, calling her a bigot for questioning East European immigrants in the UK.
But in Mr Brown’s case the gaffe was truly shocking as it could not be hidden behind spin. The public may be more forgiving in Ms Gillard’s case as the leak was made public by underhand tactics. The next polls should make interesting reading.
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