gender is very much an issue in australia

At ABC's Vote Compass I found that very good report re
the bloke problem in this country, specifically the Labor Party too, all brought to the fore by our first woman Prine Minister.

"The arrival of Julia Gillard as Australia's first female prime minister made gender more central to the political debate, especially given Ms Gillard on several occasions specifically attacked Mr Abbott on gender issues.

That opinion polls tended to show Mr Abbott polling less well among female voters was another factor in bringing gender into the general political debate.

Labor regularly highlighted Mr Abbott's polling with female voters and the Liberal Party's decision to feature Mr Abbott more often with his family and with his female colleagues and candidates suggested Liberal Party polling revealed something similar"

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-15/antony-green-kevin-rudd-julia-gillard/4889866