Almost immediately after Julia Gillard became Australia’s first female prime minister, the atmospherics changed.

Kerry-Anne Walsh, Canberra-based journalist, noticed, and so did Mary Crooks, ED of the Victorian Women’s Trust.

The pair, unknown to one another at the time, began to work in curious lockstep as they researched, named, and published on the phenomenon they were bearing witness to—the extraordinary hostility and open, but often thinly camouflaged, misogyny that accompanied Prime Minister Gillard’s every move.

For Kerry, the hostile and sexist climate compelled her to write her book The Stalking of Julia Gillard, a searing contemporaneous diary of the role of the media and some members of her own party in bringing Gillard down. It hit bookstands within weeks of Gillard being ousted from the prime ministership in June 2013 and immediately became a runaway best-seller.

For Mary, her work resulted initially in the VWT report A Switch in Time. She then wrote Credit Where Credit Is Due which the VWT published as a full-page advertorial in the Herald Sun, The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, paying tribute to Gillard’s leadership. It, too, appeared within weeks of Rudd’s return to the prime ministership. The deluge of positive feedback from these ads spawned the now-famous Credit Where Credit is Due event at Melbourne Town Hall, a luminous sold-out event with Julia Gillard as the VIP and guest speaker. Independent MP Tony Windsor and a host of other respected leaders paid tribute to the extraordinary achievements against all odds of the Gillard prime ministership and her government’s achievements.

Seven years on, filmmaker Tosca Looby has added to this important public record with a powerful account of the Gillard years in her new and acclaimed film, Strong Female Lead. Using only archival footage, the documentary again places this dark and ugly chapter in our nation’s life firmly on the national public record. This trilogy of critical work is crucial study if we are to ensure it never happens again.

Join moderator Nyadol Nyuon for a special conversation with Mary, Kerry-Anne and Tosca that spans the trials and the triumphs of the first female prime minister, the importance of Strong Female Lead and the path we must beat into the future.

Contact the host of VWT presents Strong Female Lead - A Panel Discussion

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