The 10th anniversary of Julia Gillard’s so-called misogyny speech is a reminder of what might have been. Chiefly, the loss of a potentially great Australian leader.

The speech itself resonated around Australia and the world. The Macquarie Dictionary even redefined the word misogyny on the back of it. But beyond the commemorative songs, seminars, studies and symposiums lies the story of the squandered opportunities of the most recent former Labor government.

Maybe things will work out better for Anthony Albanese. After all, he had a front-row seat when Labor burned its two leading lights and opened the door for nine years of generally poor Coalition government. Meanwhile the Gillard story is a reminder of how Labor often wins the culture wars and loses the political ones.

But it is also apparent in 2022 that myths are being bedded down into the authorised record. History as written by the rhetoricians. Time has blurred the factors behind Gillard’s rise and fall.

Source: A decade from Big M: Gillard and the might-have-beens – Michael West