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Gender war backfires as men ditch Australia PM

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's attempt to marginalise the opposition by claiming it would change abortion rights and sideline women has backfired with a poll Monday showing male voters are deserting her. Gillard, the country's first female leader, last week reignited a simmering gender war by saying in a speech that government would be dominated by "men in blue ties" should opposition leader Tony Abbott assume office in September elections.

Gender war backfires as men ditch Australia PM

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's attempt to marginalise the opposition by claiming it would change abortion rights and sideline women has backfired with a poll Monday showing male voters are deserting her. Gillard, the country's first female leader, last week reignited a simmering gender war by saying in a speech that government would be dominated by "men in blue ties" should opposition leader Tony Abbott assume office in September elections.

Australia to increase intake of U.S. Marines fivefold from 2014

Australia and the United States will increase the rotational presence of U.S. Marines in northern Australia from less than 250 at present to around 1,150 from 2014, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced Friday. "Progressing to this larger six month rotation will provide the Australian Defense Force with increased opportunities for combined training and deepening interoperability," a government statement said.

Host suspended for asking if Australia PM's partner gay

An Australian radio presenter has been suspended after pressing embattled Prime Minister Julia Gillard on air whether her hairdresser boyfriend Tim Mathieson is gay. The startling exchange came with Gillard's Labor party far behind in the polls ahead of September elections. Personal attacks are mounting against her, including a menu item at an opposition party fundraiser this week that she called "grossly sexist and offensive".

Squalid politics plumbs new depths Down Under

Mud-slinging is nothing new in politics, but a no-holds-barred election campaign in Australia has sunk standards to depths seldom seen before. After a week of headlines filled with sexual innuendo and squalid attacks, The Australian Financial Review harrumphed: "We deserve better than this." Voters are used to colourful language Down Under, where a high tolerance for intolerance abounds. After all, former Labor Party leader Mark Latham publicly called then prime minister John Howard an "arselicker" of the US president.

Host sacked for asking if Australia PM's partner gay

An Australian radio presenter was sacked Friday after sparking outrage by pressing embattled Prime Minister Julia Gillard on air whether her hairdresser boyfriend Tim Mathieson is gay. The startling exchange came with Gillard's Labor Party far behind in the polls ahead of September elections. Personal attacks are mounting against her, including a recent menu item at an opposition party fundraiser that she called "grossly sexist and offensive".

Australian PM subject of 'grossly sexist' menu

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Wednesday accused the opposition of a pattern of misogynist behaviour, branding a menu for a party fundraiser "grossly sexist and offensive" after it featured a quail dish named after her that offered "small breasts" and "huge thighs". The menu was used at a dinner in March for Mal Brough, a former government minister under prime minister John Howard and now an opposition candidate for the September national elections. Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey was the guest of honour.

Australia's Gillard accused of playing gender card

Australia's opposition on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Julia Gillard of playing the gender card amid continued speculation on her leadership ahead of the September federal election. In a speech she gave at a Women for Gillard Labor Party fundraiser on Tuesday, the prime minister warned that women would "once again (be) banished from the center of Australia's political life" under a government led by opposition leader Tony Abbott.

Australian PM subject of 'tacky' sexist menu

A high-profile Australian political candidate apologised Wednesday for a menu at one of his fundraisers featuring a quail dish named after Prime Minister Julia Gillard which had "small breasts" and "huge thighs". Former government minister Mal Brough, now an opposition Liberal National Party candidate at national elections in September, said it was devised by a non-party member who thought it would be "humourous". Brough told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he had not seen nor approved the menu and was "deeply apologetic".

Australia defends decision to leave bodies in ocean

Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday defended her government's decision to leave the bodies of drowned asylum-seekers in the ocean following criticism more would have been done had they been Australians. An extensive three-day air and sea search for an asylum-seeker boat, which is presumed to have capsized near Christmas Island with at least 55 people on board last week, failed to find any survivors.
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