Former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja has been named as Australia’s new Ambassador for Women and Girls.
Many have labelled Stott Despoja’s appointment by the new government as a surprise, considering she comes from the other side of politics. However her appointment has been widely welcomed–her role as the founding chair of The Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and Their Children, her former life in politics and her considerable public profile as a regular panellist on Channel Ten’s The Project should raise the profile of regional gender issues with audiences at home.
Her appointment also seems to signal a heightened commitment to gender work in the aid program and Australia’s foreign policy. The previous government appointed the first Ambassador for Women and Girls, a career diplomat, Penny Williams. Williams made many important contributions to the cause and was a passionate advocate on issues such as gender violence, but she only held the role part-time and had a relatively low public profile.
Stott Despoja has said that she will be ‘frank and fearless‘ in her advice to the government, and called the role ‘her dream job’.
“I am excited by the fact that this Government has made clear that gender empowerment and gender equality are priorities for Australia’s foreign policy,” she said.
Stott Despoja identified her desire to see more women in leadership roles, particularly in the Pacific, and the need for more business opportunities for women.
Stott Despoja is joining Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Shadow Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek on a cross-party parliamentary delegation to Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Nauru.
This is a ground breaking step for women and children in our region. Thank goodness Australia is stepping up to the plate. I think many of us have shared a concern that with 2015 approaching and the new post 2015 agenda, women and children may be forgotten. I know its a concern globally, as well as in our region. Thanks Ashlee for blogging on this – it is indeed welcome news!
Thanks Mel, Tess and Patrick for the comments, I completely agree with you all.
It is a great appointment and it is really refreshing to see a cross-party team of high level and highly capable female political leaders heading out into the region from Australia. When we are advocating for improved leadership opportunities for women in the region, it is important to demonstrate that we practice what we preach. While there is some concern here at home about the way gender plays out in domestic politics and worries about the low level of women in Cabinet etc (and I feel these concerns are definitely warranted), this delegation does send a positive message. I should also note that Matt Thistlethwaite was also in this delegation, also playing an important role in showing that gender issues are of importance to both men and women.
Of course, setting an example is not enough and we also need to follow through in a more practical sense by supporting the empowerment of Pacific women through aid program and other initiatives. But this is a promising start for engagement on gender from this government, so lets hope that it continues (and that we have more details on the fate of gender programming in the region and the aid cuts more broadly very soon).
I second that as being terrific appointment but again I suspect not a paid appointment beyond reimbursemnt for time spent doing things. But I hope I can be corrected on this, and we have a full-time properly resourced ambassador for women and girls.
I also think this is a good appointment and I hope Ms Stott Despoja will be returning to the Pacific soon and often so she can acquire an in depth understanding of the key issues relating to women’s empowerment in each country (there are many commonalities but there are also significant variations) and so that she can form the relationships with leaders, civil society and others that are key to promoting change in this part of the world. And I also hope that this appointment and the apparent focus on gender means that we will be hearing soon how ‘Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development’ is being rolled out.
This is a terrific appointment, for both its focus and the quality of the appointee, addressing a space for which there remains so much more to be done.