Foxy,

I've mentioned before an acquaintance I was once in touch with who led the Greens nationally in Canada.

She resigned fairly early on in her tenure and told me it was because of the "men's club" atmosphere of the Canadian Parliament. She's a publisher and felt she could do more for her cause by going back to her field of expertise.

Getting back to Abbott.

How shameful that this man not only hides away, only emerging for short scripted comments - or as we saw today, couldn't even rustle up from the depths of his inarticulate rhetoric short condolences in the wake of the boat tragedy.

He's a dud (bigtime!)

Dear Poirot,

I've got family in Calgary, Canada.
My God-mother also teaches at the University.
She's also told me about - the glass ceiling,
and certain mind-sets that still exist within faculties.
We may have "come a long way," but boy, there's
still a way to go.

As for our current PM? Hopefully more scrutiny will
be placed on him now that he's in government. It's one
thing to drift along on slogans when in Opposition but
now he should be held to account when in government.
I trust that the new Labor leader and his team will do
precisely that and people will be able to see just who
they've got.

Foxy, the people have seen exactly what we have, in a silent PM, when told of the deaths of the 'invading foreigner' women and children on their way to Australia.

Obviously, these people hadn't heard about the 3 star General being sent to turn around the invading boats on their way to Australia.

Or...maybe they were just so desperate with their present situations, that they took the journey in desperation?

I am sure that Indonesia could do more to stop these people from taking such risks.
With the large numbers of boats setting off from their shores, the authorities surely must know.

It really is such a big problem, with no one answer.

One thing's for sure...

Tony's inane and trite pre-election slogan of "We'll stop the boats" ("We'll make a difference from 'day one'") turns out to be as hollow as his ability to behave like a leader.

Far more difficult when one assumes responsibility for the "solution" than just mouthing off and playing spoiler from the sidelines.

"She resigned fairly early on in her tenure and told me it was because of the "men's club" atmosphere of the Canadian Parliament"
Poirot, I'll have to ask a good friend (a woman and a Muslim, shock horror)about that one as she has just entered the NSW parliament. So far she has been very busy settling in and getting on with her areas of responsibility. She will not have a problem with the male members from The Greens as they will give her 100% support. Plus as I have worked on a couple of campaigns with her as the candidate I know she will have no problems dealing with the issues at hand and the "opposition" she is going up against.
I'm sorry your friend in Canada resigned, I hope it was not because of Green members, I would be shocked if it was, as I know The Greens here in Australia are very well represented by woman and its been my experience that they contribute as much, if not more than the men. very hard working and very committed.

Hasbeen
There was more venom towards Julia Gillard than from Julia Gillard especially over the Carbon Tax. I would never call JG venomous.

While I was critical of the misogyny speech given its context I have no doubt that there were many people with a problem of having a woman as PM. I think it was a mistake for Gillard to turn this into a gender issue though - these are two different things - as a PM you act for all people and there are different and better ways to approach this IMO. I know many will disagree.

Poirot, Suse and Foxy
Tony Abbot did not mean stop the boats he meant stop talking about the boats (I read that on a tweet somewhere and it made me laugh). Transparency is not looking to be a strong element of the new government.

OTB
I agree with you on hate mail. I have read my share of hate mail (directed at my employers) over the years and it always leaves an nasty, menacing impression especially those directed at family. All politicians are targets when it comes to hate mail. It is an unfortunate and distasteful aspect of their jobs - sadly.