'I was prime minister for three years and three days. Three years and three days of resilience. Three years and three days of changing the nation. Three years and three days for you to judge.'
On Wednesday 23 June 2010, with the government in turmoil, Julia Gillard asked Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for a leadership ballot.
The next day, Julia Gillard became Australia's 27th prime minister, and our first female leader. Australia was alive to the historic possibilities. Here was a new approach for a new time.
It was to last three extraordinary years.
This is Julia Gillard's chronicle of that turbulent time, a strikingly candid self-portrait of a political leader seeking to realise her ideals. It is her story of what it was like - in the face of government in-fighting and often hostile media - to manage a hung parliament, build a diverse and robust economy, create an equitable and world-class education system, ensure a dignified future for Australians with disabilities, all while attending to our international obligations and building strategic alliances for our future. This is a politician driven by a sense of purpose - from campus days with the Australian Union of Students, to a career in the law, to her often gritty, occasionally glittering rise up the ranks of the Australian Labor Party.
Refreshingly honest, peppered with a wry humour and personal insights, Julia Gillard does not shy away from her mistakes, admitting freely to errors, misjudgements, and policy failures as well as detailing her political successes. In the immediate aftermath of the leadership, here is her account, of what was hidden behind the resilience and dignified courage Gillard showed as prime minister, her view of the vicious hate campaigns directed against her, and a reflection on what it means - and what it takes - to be a woman leader in contemporary politics.
With new material and fresh insights, Julia Gillard reveals what life was really like as Australia's first female prime minister.
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'An honest and compelling account of what life is like at the highest political levels- Gillard is an engaging and incisive guide.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Julia Gillard's memoir provides real, detailed, forensic, and clinical insight into the government from her central, completely unique, vantage point.' Katharine Murphy, The Guardian
'Provides a cogent defence of the reasons for the challenge to Rudd, the difficulties her government faced, both internal and external, and an insight into Gillard herself.' The Conversation
Author Biography:
Julia Gillard was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, the first, and only, woman to serve in that role. Since leaving office, she has dedicated her time to advocacy, governance roles and writing. In 2021, Julia was appointed Chair of Wellcome, a global charitable foundation based in the UK that supports science to solve urgent worldwide health challenges. Julia is also the founder and inaugural Chair of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College London and Chair of its sister Institute at the Australian National University. GIWL strives for a world where being a woman is neither a barrier to becoming a leader in any field, nor a contributor to negative perceptions of an individual's leadership. In 2014, Julia joined the Board of Beyond Blue, one of Australia's foremost mental health awareness bodies, and has served as Chair since 2017. As a lifelong advocate for increasing access to education, especially in developing nations, Julia was Chair of the Global Partnership for Education from 2014 to 2021. Julia wrote My Story, a memoir based on her experience as prime minister. Her second book, Women and Leadership- Real lives, real lessons, co-authored with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, explores the challenges women face in leadership. Her latest book is Not Now, Not Ever- Ten years on from the misogyny speech.
