Catherine wrote:
In the mean time, on the other side of the world, Australia has a woman PM for the very first time as of a few hours ago. Both her first press conference and her first speech in parliamentary question time as PM have been dominated by her discussion of her working class roots and the importance of her still living in a working-class suburb.
She's pretty reticent by comparison about the significance of being the first woman in the job and in fact I do feel oddly satisfied by the fact that the first woman governor-general just swore in the first woman PM. But the class story she prefers is making me feel uncomfortable and yearn for some honesty about "working-class fragmentation". Either that or I'd like to hear more discussion about the role of mining industries in her ascension. Probably both.
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Aneurin Bevan, 'the best Prime Minister Britain never had', is Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's political hero. Julia was born in Wales. Her family migrated to Australia when she was four.
We live in hope; but the class struggle at the grassroots is the key to unlocking her admiration for that great son of the Welsh working class.
Mike B) *********************************************************************** http://wobblytimes.blogspot.com/