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    Julia Gillard Asked About Marriage, Her Partner's Job, And Fashion Criticism In Cringeworthy Interview

    "Why didn't you marry? Why haven't you married?"

    Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard was asked a series of cringeworthy personal questions in what was billed an "exclusive" prime-time interview with veteran journalist Ray Martin.

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    The award-winning journalist asked Gillard the volley of personal questions in the first half of the interview.

    Martin asked whether Labor Party "strategists" had asked her to get married "to help things along"; when she replied "no", he followed it up with "Why didn't you marry, why haven't you married?"

    "It’s just the right decision for us and the right decision for me," Gillard replied. "I am an atheist, I’m not a person of faith, and so I don’t think about marriage in that religious sense."

    Earlier, Martin asked whether Gillard's life would have been easier if her partner, Tim Mathieson, was a "lawyer or banker" rather than a hairdresser.

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    Gillard replied, "Would we think it was quite so odd if a male prime minister or a male chief executive officer of a big bank or whatever had a wife who worked as a hairdresser?

    "Would we think that was really, really odd? 'Why on earth did he marry her? She’s a hairdresser!'

    "I just don’t think it would occur to us. I think it was the gender thing a bit."

    During Gillard's political career, some media outlets used Mathieson's occupation as a hairdresser and the couple's decision not to marry to call their relationship into question.

    Martin also asked whether Gillard was bothered by "the sisterhood" criticising her fashion choices, such as when Germaine Greer joked about her body shape and choice of jackets.

    Martin eventually got on to policy and the Labor government, but it felt like the interview could best be summarised by this, from ABC's The Roast.

    The Ray Martin interview of Julia Gillard has made an interesting revelation #Gillard #auspol #roasttv