on 10-10-2014 12:19 PM
It was the longest and most impressive-sounding list of credentials rolled off to date by a witness fronting the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption.
Julia Eileen Gillard, resident of South Australia, took the witness stand in the hearing room and was asked by counsel assisting to tell the commission her current occupation.
"Ah, I'm ... there's a list," the new witness said.
"I am of course a former prime minister and do a number of things associated with that.
"I am an author. I am the chair of the Global Partnership for Education.
"I'm a non-resident distinguished senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington.
"I'm an honorary professor at the University of Adelaide."
And so began the latest interrogation of Australia's first female prime minister, this time under oath, about the complex, two-decades old web of events commonly known as the "slush fund" affair.
Those expecting any dramatic change were dissatisfied by early proceedings, however, with Ms Gillard repeating her often-stated position that the dodgy dealings of an ex-boyfriend 20 years ago were unknown to her and she had not benefited from them.
on 10-10-2014 12:27 PM
No new news today?
She presented well at the commission hearing. No bumbling of answers or avoidance of the questions, just direct straight forward answers. Same can't be said of some that have appeared.
10-10-2014 02:58 PM - edited 10-10-2014 02:59 PM
Oh yes quite straightforward and with a straight face. One of her current jobs is Ex-Prime Minister
on 10-10-2014 03:01 PM
so???
that was ages ago wasn't it??
& she handled herself very well despite being asked the same questions over and over again in 500 different ways
on 10-10-2014 03:13 PM
Ages ago? Last month.
But you're right, time no doubt flies when one is kept busy in one's job as ex-prime-minister and various other honorary positions.
on 10-10-2014 03:22 PM
I suppose TA will be saying/doing the same things in a few years too.
It probably seems like ages ago to me because there were so many threads about it & it was sort of done to death ifywim
on 10-10-2014 06:44 PM
10-10-2014 06:46 PM - edited 10-10-2014 06:50 PM
on 10-10-2014 06:56 PM
on 10-10-2014 06:58 PM
I heard her a few weeka ago being asked what her current employment was. She unfortunately made herself sound foolish by answering 'as former PM......''