Rare thing

So Julia Gillard won the spill.  For the first time, a woman holds the Prime Ministerial office in Australia (and it's taken us a long time!).

Let's see if things improve, although I would say that history is against this.

The tendency with Labor governments in Australia electing women as leader is that it's a sign that they're on their last legs.  Joan Kirner was put on the bonfire of the Victorian Labor government before Jeff Kennett won the 1991 election.  Carmen Lawrence did better on her elevation to the premiership in Western Australia in 1990, but was beaten at the 1993 election.  Right now, Anna Bligh and Kristina Keneally both lead highly unpopular Labor governments in Queensland and New South Wales respectively.

Let's hope Julia Gillard's elevation is the one that confounds this tendency.