From where I sit, I see an extremely competent Julie Bishop doing a great job at foreign affairs. This stands out dramatically when she is compared to dills like Evans, Carr & a few others you could name.

This is probably the first time she has had the opportunity to show her quality. That she is so effective so quietly is something it would be good to see others try to emulate.

After the disasters of our flirtation with female premiers, & the total catastrophe of our first as Prime Minister, would it be possible for any lady to again become PM with in a decade or two?

I certainly hope so. Bishop looks like the first lady PM we should have had, & is probably the pick of Canberra at the moment. I wish her luck.

I must be from an alternate universe, I can't see any of what you claim for the lady concerned. So far she's achieved little except make a fool of herself and our nation.
In reality she's nothing more than the Canetoad's token woman and a good little puppet mouthing the party line on command, she wouldn't last a week if she dared to think for herself, the Canetoad does NOT like uppity women, that has been made abundantly clear.

Have to agree Hasbeen it appears she is there on her ability not because she belongs to some grubby faction or union. Quite refreshing after Labours failures and who have only ever resort to the misogyny card to hide incompetence.

G'day Bruce,
Who exactly is the Cane Toad ?
As for making a fool of herself I don't think she'd stand a chance of ever up-staging any Labor pollie. That much proof is in the can for decades to come.
Actually I think the trend presently shows the numbers of morons are lessening so I don't think Labor will be voted in for some time as soon as this Government has overcome some of the labor mess.

Dear Hasbeen,

I get the distinct impression that you would
support the current government and its
ministers - no matter what they said and did.

Julie Bishop is a bit of a worry. Her remarks
on Tamil asylum seekers, on Israeli settlements
on Palestinian Territory, her promotion of ties
with Fiji's Military, her disapproval of Steve
Bracks's appointment as Consul-General to New York,
are just some of the things that
do not sit well or exemplify competency in the
job. And she struggled when faced with her first
international crisis with Indonesia. Her actions seem
to go against the grain of international opinion.
And it does appear that she is simply following the
Party Line in what she does. Which is to be
expected considering that she is the only woman
given such a high ranking position in the Abbott
Government.

Still, I guess its early days - and time will
tell how she performs with more experience on the
job.

As for Julie Bishop as our future PM?

It certainly should be easier for her than it was
for our first female Prime Minister - Julia Gillard.

Julia Gillard had the blowtorch applied right from
the days after the 2010 election. Never in our
country's history has a national leader faced so many
demands and attacks on so many multiple fronts.

Ranging from -

suggestions that - she came to power illegitimately,
(despite the fact that she was elected unopposed by
Parliamentary caucus), to her dress sense, her
hair-styles, shoes, childlessness,
atheism, marital status, and even the sexual
orientation of her partner -
which obscured her government's
achievements.

Hopefully, if there is another female leader further down
the track - be it Julie Bishop or anyone else - they will
not have to face so many demands and attacks on multiple
fronts as our former PM did. However, I somehow doubt
very much whether this will happen anytime soon.

Bruce if she was the creator of the universe a rabid lefty like you would not be able to see it.

It must be painful for you in your lucid moments, if you have any, to realise you have absolutely no one on the left worth feeding.

Foxy you know we wont agree on all the bleeding heart stuff, but you must admit in your inner soul, that Gillard was a disaster. The very worst we have ever had.

For Julie to get past the dreadful legacy Gillard left could only be worse if Gillard ends up in prison, as she should for her part in ripping off unionists so blatantly.