Australia's opposition leader was accused yesterday of insulting housewives after saying his successful business-owner wife showed that modern women are no longer "appendages of middle-aged men."
Rudd said on Thursday his wife, Therese Rein -- a self-made multimillionaire and mother of three -- should be entitled to continue her successful business career if he were elected to power.
"Part of the reality we are dealing with here is this is the age of professional women who run their own companies, who have their own lives and are not simply the appendages of middle-aged men," Rudd told reporters.
Government minister Peter Dutton said Rudd's remark showed he does not respect women who stay at home to raise children.
"That's an offense to all stay-at-home mums," Dutton told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
"My wife is tertiary-educated, she's a professional woman and she has taken a decision to stay at home and look after our children as tens of thousands of mothers do across the nation," he said.
Sarah Maddison, a University of New South Wales expert on gender issues, said Rudd's comment was merely "stating a reality of modern life."
Australian Prime Minister John Howard did not directly attack Rudd for making the remark, but said he "should have used a different expression."
The center-left Labor Party, which promises fairer labor laws if it wins government, has been embarrassed by revelations that Rein's job-placement company is under investigation for allegedly underpaying staff.
Rudd said he did not know about the allegation until shortly before it was revealed in newspapers on Thursday.
Later yesterday, Jackie Kelly -- a rising star in Howard's government until she resigned from the Cabinet in 2001 in order to have children -- announced that she was quitting Parliament altogether to focus on taking care of her family.
"It's a bugger of a life ... harsh, unforgiving, relentless, without a break," Kelly said of politics.
"Financially, emotionally, personally, family-wise ... every other way conceivable ... my family is better off with me at home for 365 nights a year, rather than the 100 nights a year I spend in Canberra," she told Southern Cross Broadcasting network.
The role of women has been a political issue since earlier this month when a lawmaker called Rudd's deputy, Julia Gillard, "deliberately barren" for choosing not to have children because of her career.
The lawmaker later apologized for the remarks.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s