SYDNEY — Women rule. Or so it seems in Australia where the first female prime minister has ousted a male colleague, where a woman is the governor general, still another runs the main state, New South Wales, and another presides over that state's capital city, Sydney. Topping all, an Australian woman has just been elected to head the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation.
Lest anyone still doubts that the person who rules the home may also rule the world, let him study the microcosm called Canberra. There in the bush wilderness of Australia's capital a woman has suddenly toppled the head of federal government. And she looks like staying there a long time. All this in a country noted for calm, gradual change and a macho preference for sport over politics. Or haven't we noticed Australia is indeed a new place?
But let's not forget the ruling Labor Party has a history of chopping off its leaders once public opinion polls nose dive. Or that the latest head of the conservatives' Liberal Party, Tony Abbott, ousted their elected leader, Malcolm Turnbull, in a bloodless coup.