The years 2010 to 2013 saw a remarkable period in Australian political history: Julia Gillard became Australia's first female prime minister after she successfully staged a leadership challenge to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. A few months later she led her party to the 2010 federal election, and subsequently steered through seventeen days of negotiation with three independent members to successfully form her second, but minority, government. Yet, three years and three days later, she was overthrown by the very man she had originally dethroned. In this book, expert contributors consider the turbulence of that period and reflect on the Gillard governments' policy-setting, institutional and political legacies. In particular, they consider the issue of Gillard's leadership of a minority government and the arrangements needed to work with the Greens and independents to achieve Labor policies in the parliament. A recurring theme raised by many of the authors relates to the many distractions that prevented Gillard and Labor from gaining popular traction during the period. The book gives particular attention to Gillard as a female leader and the relentless campaign of denigration that pursued her, drawing conclusions about the fate of many women who assume positions of significant power in the Australian community. The Gillard Governments has been produced by the ANZSOG Institute for Governance at the University of Canberra. It is the eleventh in a series of books on successive Commonwealth administrations. Each volume has provided a chronicle and commentary of major events, policies and issues that have dominated successive administrations since 1983.

Contents:

Part one: introduction.

A narrative, a narrative, my kingdom for a narrative! / Chris Aulich p3. Forming a minority government p8. The institutions of government p10. Major policies of the Gillard period p11. Misogyny, sexism or political opportunism? p15.

Seventeen days / Robin Tennant-Wood p21. Election aftermath p23. As the dust settled p24. Distractions and diversions p25. The Labor-Greens’ agreement: [Adam] Bandt p28. Wildcard: [Andrew] Wilkie p29. Mavericks: [Bob] Katter and [Tony] Crook p30. Voices of reason: [Rob] Oakeshott and [Tony] Windsor p33. The personality factor p36. Appendix 2.1: The 12 point agreement between the ALP and the Greens p40.

Part 2: the institutions of government.

The legislative record of a ‘hung’ parliament / Gwynneth Singleton p43. The voting record of the independents p47. The Speaker’s use of the casting vote p50. Parliamentary tactics of the Opposition p52.

After Independent’s Day – have the ‘Independents’ made any difference? / Brenton Prosser and John Warhurst p55. The ‘independents’, the agreements and the ‘new paradigm’ p57. Assessing impact of the independents p58. Wilkie and national gambling reform [poker machines] p59. Assessing impact: Rob Oakeshott p63. Assessing impact: Tony Windsor p66. On balance, what difference did the independents make? p68.

The public sector: Departments and arm’s length bodies / Roger Wettenhall p80. [Public Service]. Departmental arrangements under the two Gillard governments p82. Arm’s length bodies: beginning arrangements p88; creations, abolitions, reconstructions p89; a great variety of services provided, mostly well p92. Rethinking the basics: the CFAR exercise p93. Appendix 5.1: Departments under the second Gillard government p101. Appendix 5.2: ALB creations, abolitions and reconstitutions, late 2010-2013 p103.

The Public Service under Gillard / Bill Burmester and John Halligan p106. An unsettled political environment p107. Political advisers p107. Implications for the public service: changing structures and leadership p109. The story of DIICCSRTE [Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education] p109. Public service reform p111. Public Service Act Amendment 2013 p112. Public Interest Disclosure Act p113. Commonwealth Financial Accountability Review p114. Capability reviews p115. Reformulation of the Secretaries’ role p116. Policy development under Gillard p118.

Part 3: policy issues.

The Gillard government, the Coalition and asylum seekers / Mary Walsh p125.

The education revolution / Jenny Chesters p141. Gillard’s crusade to reform education p142. Education revolution: school sector p145. Education revolution: VET [Vocational Education and Training] sector p147. Education revolution: higher education sector p149. The politics of the education revolution p152.

The economy / Anne Garnett and Phil Lewis p158. Policy overview p159. Budget deficits and debt p161. Taxation policy p164. The labour market and productivity p169. Industrial relations p172.

Rural and regional policy / Linda Courtenay Botterill and Geoff Cockfield p177. Values in Australian rural and regional policy p178. Managing the movement of rural industries and communities to self-reliance p182. Drought policy reform p182. Spatial equalisation and adjustment policies p184. Bringing post-materialist values into rural policy: the Murray Darling Basin Plan p186. Live cattle exports to Indonesia p188. Getting the balance right?: the Carbon Farming Initiative p190.

Climate change / Andrew Macintosh and Richard Denniss p195. The MPCCC [Multi-Pary Climate Change Committee] process p197. The Clean Energy Future package p199. Changes to the initial agreement p207. Linking the European emissions trading scheme and abandonment of the floor price p208. Abandonment of contracts for closure p209. Cuts to climate programs in the 2013 budget p210. Rudd’s pre-election carbon changes p211. What can the Clean Energy Future package tell us about building sustainable public interest reforms? p212.

The Asian Century / Andrew Carr p220. Migration p221. Foreign policy p222. Defence policy p229. The federal opposition p232.

Eden-Monaro, the bellwether seat / Chris Aulich, Michelle Grattan, Brendan McCaffrie and Robin Tennant-Wood p238. Table 13.1: Eden-Monaro election results, by booth by local government area p239. The candidates p241. The campaign p243. The voters’ views p245. Moods and leaders p246. Issues p249. Attitude to the Senate and the Greens p253. Perceptions of local campaign and candidates p254.

Evaluating policy success / David Marsh and Chris Lewis p258. The conceptual frame: assessing success: the Marsh and McConnell heuristic p258. The dimensions of policy success p259. Complexity problems p262. Beyond Marsh and McConnell p263. The Gillard government’s record p264. Process success p265. Programmatic success p267. Economy / budget p268. Carbon tax and mining tax p269. Political success p270. The absence of policy p272.

Part 4: Gillard the Prime Minister.

Gillard, her government and the media / Sally Young and Matthew Ricketson p283. The international context: decades of research on female politicians and the media p292. Evaluating the nature of media coverage p297.

‘Rudderless’ – perceptions of Julia Gillard’s domestic statecraft / Mark Evans and Brendan McCaffrie p303. Sighting shots p303. Understanding statecraft p305. Constructing Julia p309. Gillard’s governing objectives – deconstructing Julia p311. Gillard’s rudderless governing code p313. Political argument hegemony – winning the war of ideas p314. Party management and the white ant p317. In conclusion – leadership through the looking glass p318.

Index p322.