Mothers can’t make PM

Julia Gillard, Australian Labor Deputy Leader, claims mothers can’t become Prime Minister.

Someone should mention this to NZ’s first female Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, who was mother to Ben and Anna.

Or to Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi, Benazir Bhutto, Golda Meir, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Corazon Aquino, Michelle Bachelet, Sila María Calderón, Kim Campbell, Tansu Çiller, Édith Cresson, Mary Robinson etc etc.

I certainly would state that being a mother does make it harder to get to the top of any field. It does take up a hell of a lot of time and energy. But neither it is the barrier it used to be. There have been plenty of examples of mothers, even with very young children, making it to the top.

So Gillard claiming John Howard would not have made it, if he had been a woman, is nonsense.