Feminism in Australia woman Premier was Carmen Lawrence, becoming Premier of Western Australia in 1990. The short-lived Australian Women's Party sought to ensure equal representation of men and women at all levels of government. Quentin Bryce was the first woman to hold the position of Governor-General of Australia between September 2008 and March 2014. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard gained international attention and praise in 2012 for an off-the-cuff speech in the Australian federal parliament directed at then Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. The speech, known as The Misogyny Speech has been uploaded to YouTube multiple times, with several thousand views each. The speech
Quentin Bryce Shorten. While acknowledging her magnanimity, Abbott declined to accept her resignation and asked her to serve the rest of her term. According to him Bryce provided continuity at a time of political turbulence and she should be commended for her dedication to public service. Greg Sheridan, in the national newspaper "The Australian", suggested that the Governor-General risked "politicising and misusing the office". Sheridan was commenting on Bryce's planned trip to Africa on behalf of the Prime Minister to lobby for a seat for Australia in the United Nations Security Council. He further stated that Bryce's "feigned interest in Africa will