Julia Gillard has defended her much-criticised decision to appear on Kyle Sandilands’ radio show.
In the third part of Caroline Overington’s interview with the Prime Minister, Ms Gillard — whose anti-misogyny speech made her internationally famous — explained why she decided to associate with a man who has frequently been in hot water over his sexist comments.
“Kyle and Jackie O speak to more than a million Australians every morning,” Ms Gillard says. “And what do we as politicians want? We want the opportunity to talk to more than a million Australians.
“I went on the show the day after Mr Abbott was on it and for whatever reason, the fact that I went on it is the topic of discussion.”
When challenged by Ms Overington that the reason her appearance raised eyebrows was because of her openly feminist and anti-misogynist stance, Ms Gillard made it clear she didn’t support any of Kyle’s anti-woman sentiments.
“I don’t endorse that conduct,” she said. “I have in the past been asked in interviews about some of Kyle’s conduct and I’ve been very clear when the conduct has been sexist and unacceptable. There are no free passes here.”
Read Caroline Overington’s interview with the PM here:
