Australia gets first female Prime Minister!

This morning, the current Labor party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided not to contest an internal party leadership ballot against him – handing power to Australia’s new PM Julia Gillard.
This change will hopefully have an effect on the under-representation of women in politics in Australia. Currently, women occupy 26.7 percent of Lower House seats and 35.5 percent of Senate seats, although women represent 45% of Australia’s workforce.
From what we know, Gillard is not a particularly feminist politician. She has not made any explicit statements about improving the status of women in Australia. Politically, the change in Prime Ministers will likely not mean much at all. Labor has been edging toward the centre right since gaining power in 2007, and this will not change under Gillard.
The opposition Liberal Party is led by Tony Abbott who IS explicitly problematic about women. He has publically given his daughters advice about remaining virgins before marriage and has described himself as feeling “threatened” by queer people.
Australia is due for an election towards the end of this year, so Gillard will have her popularity tested in the ballots in the near future. The down-side of this change in Prime Minister is it may destabilise the Labor Party and lead the Abbott gaining power, which would be a definite lose for Australian women.