A (Wo)mans World!
"Australia. Where the men are real men and the women are women - except perhaps during Mardi Gras"
Aah yes. Australia. Where the men are real men and the women are women – except perhaps during Mardi Gras. It’s a tough bloke’s type of country, you know. We are tough. We work long hours, endure the hot baking sun and love that cold nectar running down our throat, and our beer guts, especially after a hard day’s yakka. Meanwhile our Sheila’s are all at home making dinner and looking after the brats, whilst watching a re-run of Neighbours on the television.
This is very much a stereotypical view to some people of what Australia is really like. Just to clarify before I go on, we do not have Kangaroo’s hopping about in our backyard, and yes – we do have ‘shopping malls’. We do, however, like to throw a ‘shrimp on the barbie’.
Well I have some news for you, dear reader. Australia is not a man’s country but is, deep breath, a woman’s country.
What am I on about? Have I lost my marbles? (erm yes a few years ago during a house move), have I been drinking the amber nectar again? (not this time). Read on, and with luck you will be all the wiser.
If you are sitting comfortably I will begin.
The Head of Australia, the number one honcho, is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. Dear old Queenie has been head of our country for nearly 60 years. As some of you would know the Queen appoints a Representative of the monarchy to be the ‘technical’ head of the country. This role is known as the Governor General and Quentin Bryce is currently filling this position. The Governor General is realistically a ceremonial role. Having said that the GG can sack the Government in some extreme cases, just ask Mr Whitlam.
One level below the GG, is the Prime Minister. Currently the person pulling the country’s purse strings is none other than Julia Gillard. This real strine speaking politician has been PM for the best part of a year. Not bad for a migrant from Wales. Jules looks after matters from a Federal point of view, whilst each State and Territory also have their own governments.
Going down one notch we currently have women running three of the Australian States. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Kristina Keneally of NSW, Anna Bligh of Queensland and, the latest cab off the female rank, Lara Giddings of Tasmania. It is important to note that both Kristina and Anna are in charge of two of the three biggest States. Lara, meanwhile, has the smallest State to look after (aka the Apple Isle).
All states have a Governor. In NSW Marie Bashir has held that role for a number of years. Her powers are very similar to that of the Governor General but on a State level.
Sydney - the biggest city in Australia. Nearly 6 million people live and play there. There’s the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the world famous Bondi Beach. One of the truly great cities of the world. So, I hear you say, who is the Mayor of Sydney? The answer, dear reader, is of course a female. Clover Moore is the current Lord Mayor of Sydney and is responsible for the New Year’s Eve fireworks display that is the envy of lots of other cities.
So, as you can see, at all levels of power within Australia there is a woman in charge. Is this a good thing? Well as a bloke I am not complaining. After all it’s a (wo)man’s world!
Aah yes. Australia. Where the men are real men and the women are women – except perhaps during Mardi Gras. It’s a tough bloke’s type of country, you know. We are tough. We work long hours, endure the hot baking sun and love that cold nectar running down our throat, and our beer guts, especially after a hard day’s yakka. Meanwhile our Sheila’s are all at home making dinner and looking after the brats, whilst watching a re-run of Neighbours on the television.
This is very much a stereotypical view to some people of what Australia is really like. Just to clarify before I go on, we do not have Kangaroo’s hopping about in our backyard, and yes – we do have ‘shopping malls’. We do, however, like to throw a ‘shrimp on the barbie’.
Well I have some news for you, dear reader. Australia is not a man’s country but is, deep breath, a woman’s country.
What am I on about? Have I lost my marbles? (erm yes a few years ago during a house move), have I been drinking the amber nectar again? (not this time). Read on, and with luck you will be all the wiser.
If you are sitting comfortably I will begin.
The Head of Australia, the number one honcho, is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. Dear old Queenie has been head of our country for nearly 60 years. As some of you would know the Queen appoints a Representative of the monarchy to be the ‘technical’ head of the country. This role is known as the Governor General and Quentin Bryce is currently filling this position. The Governor General is realistically a ceremonial role. Having said that the GG can sack the Government in some extreme cases, just ask Mr Whitlam.
One level below the GG, is the Prime Minister. Currently the person pulling the country’s purse strings is none other than Julia Gillard. This real strine speaking politician has been PM for the best part of a year. Not bad for a migrant from Wales. Jules looks after matters from a Federal point of view, whilst each State and Territory also have their own governments.
Going down one notch we currently have women running three of the Australian States. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Kristina Keneally of NSW, Anna Bligh of Queensland and, the latest cab off the female rank, Lara Giddings of Tasmania. It is important to note that both Kristina and Anna are in charge of two of the three biggest States. Lara, meanwhile, has the smallest State to look after (aka the Apple Isle).
All states have a Governor. In NSW Marie Bashir has held that role for a number of years. Her powers are very similar to that of the Governor General but on a State level.
Sydney - the biggest city in Australia. Nearly 6 million people live and play there. There’s the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the world famous Bondi Beach. One of the truly great cities of the world. So, I hear you say, who is the Mayor of Sydney? The answer, dear reader, is of course a female. Clover Moore is the current Lord Mayor of Sydney and is responsible for the New Year’s Eve fireworks display that is the envy of lots of other cities.
So, as you can see, at all levels of power within Australia there is a woman in charge. Is this a good thing? Well as a bloke I am not complaining. After all it’s a (wo)man’s world!
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