Her partner Tim Mathieson is going with her. He’s a hairdresser; they met in a salon. Of course they did – she’s Julia Gillard, and her hair is her destiny. They don’t live together but they’re “serious enough to be in an ongoing relationship”. Besides, she jokes, “living with me is an academic concept” because she’s away from home most of the time.

Gillard chose fairly early in her career not to have children. The constant comments about it don’t hurt her feelings, she says, because she’s comfortable with her choice. But she does resent them on behalf of other women.

“If Peter Costello genuinely thought about it, could he be the mother of three children, have been treasurer for more than a decade, and be next in line to be prime minister? Could John Howard have been a mother to his children, as opposed to a father, and be in the position he is in today? The frank answer is no.”

So, there’s really no clue as to whether she meant “they couldn’t do it given the lousy infrastructure we have for working parents in Australia”, or “they couldn’t do it, full stop”. It really was ambiguous.

Pats and chirpy noises to the little bub, both of you (One in, one out!)

I think Cast Iron that you’ve got the right quote but not the reason she said it. My impression was she was making a point in relation to the new expanded maternity leave, which if fleshed out might read something like:

“Howard wouldn’t be where he is if he had to be a primary caregiver because our society doesn’t adequately support primary caregivers so that they can have kids without damaging their careers….. hence here comes our 2 year maternity leave etc”.

My reaction to that comment probably didn’t help my career prospects very much, but I was so shocked!