'It took on a life of its own': the story behind Julia Gillard's misogyny speech

Condemned by much of the media but celebrated by the public, Guardian readers say this is the most unforgettable moment of Australian TV history

Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech voted ‘most unforgettable’ moment in Australian TV history

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When then opposition leader Tony Abbott challenged prime minister Julia Gillard to sack Speaker Peter Slipper – following the revelation of misogynistic text messages he had sent – the words he used hit her hard: “This Speaker’s standards are this prime minister’s standards,” Abbott said, and Gillard “led a government that should already have died of shame”.

According to Gillard, this was just the latest in a long line of sexist behaviour and gendered double-standards she had endured through her career – by Abbott, by his party, by the entire system. “After every sexist thing directed at me that I’d bitten my lip on, now I was going to be accused of sexism – the unfairness of that,” Gillard has said of that moment. “That anger propelled it.”

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