Julia Gillard Leadership

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Forebodingly stated by Julia Gillard, “There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.” These words were uttered in August 2010 and they would come back to haunt Gillard for the remainder of her political career. As one of Australia’s most contentious Prime Ministers, Julia Gillard fought a mix of personal and political battles. Public comments that she’d made, policy decisions which she brought to Parliament, her gendered position as the first female Prime Minister all brought their own unique struggles, yet she still persevered as one of Australia’s most effective political leaders. Like a phoenix rises from the ashes, Julia Gillard rose from the burning flames of the Australian Labor Party and emerged reborn as their leader in …show more content…

After the 2011 Federal election, Gillard obtained majority government only with the support of 12 cross benchers in the Senate, and one member of the House. This was the first federal hung parliament since 1940, and only the second in Australian history. Here we see Gillard’s most admirable and distinguishing political leadership skill shine; she was a master negotiator. Both major political parties at the time had the opportunity to negotiate support for their parties in this new political makeup, however Julia was able to succeed where her opposition could not. In hindsight one could argue that this was an early sign that when the Opposition did gain power at the following election, their Leader Tony Abbott, would not be able to effectively lead. Her negotiation skills are further exemplified through her policy decision in this new government. Although Gillard had entered the election stating that there would be no carbon tax, her hand was moved and she legislated for one to keep the support of the Australian Greens, a move that was retrospectively suicidal for her political career yet she persevered with her decision which reflects how effective she was in her leadership decisions. In a further move that is near incomprehensible when Parliamentary agreements were so fragile, her Government succeeded in passing a record number of legislation. This includes world first legislation; such as our countries plain cigarette packaging laws; which successive majority governments have not been able to successfully

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