On Wednesday I walked the corridors of Parliament House. Just a casual tourist having a quick look around our National Capital. I walked (a little too briskly probably!) past the large portraits of our former Prime Ministers, desperately wanting to see a portrait of our only female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Of course disappointment was in store, no portrait yet! Well, okay I guess it’s early days and all of that! But one hopes they (whoever they are!) gets a wriggle on and hangs that portrait on the wall where it so deservedly belongs, sooner rather than later!
As a woman, I need to know that Julia will be honoured alongside the men. I need to know that when international visitors look at her portrait, they will comment on how she was the first female Prime Minister of Australia. And, I need to know that younger women can walk past her and recognise a little bit of themselves in her bravery and success.
Julia Eileen Gillard. Member of the Australian Labor Party. Twenty-seventh Prime Minister of Australia. A woman!
Yep, enough to bring a tear to my eye just thinking about it! Even without the portrait!
Heather Whitford Roche 
A nice reminder of a brave leader. And I’m wondering about the bust in the Botanical Gardens here in Ballarat. When will it arrive?
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Yes, that’s a good question, I guess it takes some time for a sculpture to be completed. Still it might be a good excuse for a ‘toast’ in the park when it arrives!
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