Category: criticism

Harpy’s bizarre

who magazine

In 2007, Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop accused Deputy Opposition Leader Julia Gillard of behaving like a “fashion model or TV star” rather than a politician.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to get dressed up in designer clothing and borrow clothing and make-up to grace the cover of magazines,” Ms Bishop told The Sunday Times.

“You’re not a celebrity, you’re an elected representative, you’re a member of parliament. You’re not Hollywood and I think that when people overstep that line they miss the whole point of that public role.”

Ms Bishop said The Australian Weekend Magazine shoot, in which Ms Gillard posed in designer clothes and pearls, was “her Cheryl Kernot moment”.

“Why would you go along and do a fashion shoot as Julia Gillard did the other day, with clothes by Carla Zampatti, jewellery by . . . hair by . . .?” Ms Bishop said. “That’s not what it’s all about.”

Ms Bishop said posing for magazine covers was “not my style”.

“Of course, people want to know more about you, but I don’t think you should be courting that celebrity status as if you’re a fashion model or a TV star, because you’re not,” she said.

In response to Julie Bishop’s criticism, Julia Gillard pointed out that The Australian interview was quintessentially about politics.

She said Ms Bishop’s comments were “inaccurate in the impression she’s trying to give of what I’ve done, and inane in that it’s not the sort of thing that matters to Australian voters”.

“They want to know what’s happening with their education system, with their health system, with their industrial relations system. They’re the sort of things that matter to them, not this sort of distraction.”

harpers bazaarSo imagine my surprise when I see Julie Bishop featuring in fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar this month.

And how does she use this opportunity?

She reiterates she is not a feminist and tells women they should “stop whingeing and just get on with it.”

“Please do not let it get to you and do not become a victim, because it’s only a downward spiral once you’ve cast yourself as a victim,” Bishop told the fashion magazine.

Right then.

Domestic violence would all go away if we just got a job that pays hundreds of thousands and covers all our costs, and read Harper’s Bazaar for advice.

And there she is again in Who magazine where she “talks fashion, running, and style”.

“FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop has topped the list of most intriguing people of 2014.   Bishop said she was living the dream in her interview for Who’s Best and Worst 2014 issue.  Others on the intriguing list include Lara Bingle, The Bachelor Blake Garvey, Jesinta Campbell and Buddy Franklin, Rosie Batty and Ian Thorpe.”

Julia….I miss you

Ebola outbreak: Abbott urged to send Australian health workers

Volunteers in protective suits bury the body of a person who died from Ebola in a village outside Freetown, Sierra Leone - 7 October 2014

The Australian government is facing more criticism for not sending health workers to Africa to help fight Ebola.

A 25-bed US field hospital that will treat international health workers who contract the virus is due to open soon.

The Australian government now has no excuse not to fund health workers to travel to Africa, said Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King.

“It is now up to the Abbott government to act,” Ms King told journalists in Canberra on Friday.

Australia has so far refused to send health workers to Africa because it says it could not evacuate and treat them if they got infected with the virus.

It has provided A$8m (£4.4m) to frontline services and A$40m (£22m) to the World Health Organization and has not ruled out increasing that contribution.

‘A risky situation’

“We will not be putting Australian health workers in a risky situation in the absence of evacuation plans and an appropriate level of medical care and we cannot currently supply that,” Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said last month.

But the Australian Medical Association, the Public Health Association, the Healthcare and Hospitals Association and non-government organisation Medecins sans Frontieres have all called for the Australian government to substantially increase its contribution.

Sierra Leone and Amnesty International have condemned Australia’s decision to suspend entry visas for people from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa as “counterproductive” and “discriminatory”.

Ms King said there was a split in Cabinet about its response to the crisis, with Immigration Minister Scott Morrison “taking charge” and Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Health Minister Peter Dutton losing control of the debate.

Nearly 5,000 people have died of Ebola so far. More than 13,700 people have been infected in total, the vast majority in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea