Australia’s most powerful woman thanks her man for his support

Mar 10 2008 by Hannah Jones, Western Mail

A WELSHWOMAN taking a lead role in the macho world of Australian politics has revealed the secret of her success – her hairdresser boyfriend.

Barry-born Julia Gillard, the Australian Labor Party’s deputy leader, says it’s her partner Tim Mathieson who keeps her grounded.

Ms Gillard, who met Mr Mathieson four years ago at the Heading Out salon in Fitzroy where he used to work, says he has helped her withstand the pressures of public office.

At the start of her election campaign last year, the 45-year-old lawyer withstood an unprecedented barrage of public and media scrutiny, for everything from her red hair, her preference for wearing trouser suits to her politics.

But with the love and support of her partner, she weathered the storm and stood firm to help her party assume power for the fist time in more than a decade.

“He’s a pretty casual sort of person, so he copes with it all pretty well,” Ms Gillard said.

“Obviously during the heart of the election campaign there was a lot of scrutiny, including scrutiny on him, and I think a lot of that is very unfair.

“Not just Tim, I think generally about politicians’ partners.”

Ms Gillard revealed the couple have not discussed marriage and have no plans to tie the knot in the foreseeable future.

“I have obviously made decisions throughout my life and small decisions you make all add up to being big decisions,” she said.

“Across my life I have made a set of decisions and I am comfortable with them.

“Tim and I are obviously comfortable where we are at and that is fine.”

She was also faced with “silly jibes” about her decision to remain childless.

She said, “It’s perhaps a bit hard when men, particularly from the outside, criticise what choices women have made when they don’t face the same range of choices.

“I’ve obviously chosen to devote myself to my work and, you know, life unfolds and you make a set of small decisions which end up being a big decision at the end of the day.

“It’s been one of those things I’ve had to live through, silly jibes and a carry-on about it. But I think if it’s raised in a debate about the role of women and how we can help women manage work and family life then that’s a good thing.”

Mr Mathieson, 50, who is now a sales rep for a hair products company, added, “I didn’t actually cut her hair (at Heading Out) but we enjoyed talking about politics.

“I asked if she was local or state or federal. I didn’t really know at that stage.”

They resumed contact in 2005, and have been together ever since.

“We just touched base again and it just sort of slowly progressed. We like to just go for walks on Altona beach and have a glass of wine in the evening. We just try to relax when we catch up.”

As well as help style her hair, he’s also the cook of the house, often using the barbecue she gave him.

“She won’t go near it. She bought it on that premise,” he added.

Ms Gillard left Barry for a new life in Australia in 1966 with her father John, 79, a former policeman and British Rail clerk from Cwmgwrach, Neath, her Barry-born mother Moira, 80, and her elder sister Alison.

The family went as “£10 poms”, having accepted subsidised travel to boost the Australian labour force.

After three months in the deputy prime minister role, Ms Gillard is hoping to inspire more women to follow in her footsteps.

“I am pleased and proud of the result,” she said. “ I have always thought the day you would know women had absolutely achieved equality in all of this would be the day no one actually bothers to count any more how many women ministers there are because it is normal to have roughly half.

“When it is absolutely routine, then that will be genuine equality. I am confident that will happen in my lifetime.”

Magazine offers cash for Julia Gillard in a swimsuit

Australia’s deputy prime minister has turned down $AUS50,000 to appear in a swimsuit for the pages of a men’s magazine.

Antipodean glossy Ralph offered Julia Gillard the huge sum, the equivalent of £23,000, to strip off after it voted her second sexiest woman in Australia.

But Ms Gillard, who lost out on the top spot to former Miss World Jennifer Hawkins, took the invitation in typically good humour.

“I am not a reader of Ralph magazine – I’d like to make that clear,” she said.

“And I don’t think people understand that I am probably two foot shorter than Jennifer Hawkins and double her body weight, so it does seem like a fairly unusual result.

“I think there are some things (posing in swimwear) the Australian public should be protected from and I’m glad I saved them from that!”

But Ralph magazine editor Santi Pintado believes the magazine’s sales would go through the roof if she ever accepted its offer to pose in a bikini.

“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac in this case,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s any woman more powerful than her in Australia.

“We’d be happy to have her pose in a bathrobe if that suits her.”