Julia Gillard’s dignified approach to post-prime ministerial life has won her adoration from the public which was absent when she was Australia’s first female leader in The Lodge.

Gillard, largely based in London these days, rarely injects herself into party political squabbles like a miserable ghost. She isn’t giving “strategic presentations” to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company either (That’s Scott Morrison, by the way). Instead, Gillard has been the subject of a hit one-woman Sydney Theatre Company production, is set to chair the Women’s Prize for Fiction next year – and has just received two more honorary doctorates in the span of a few days.

University of Sydney Vice Chancellor Mark Scott with Julia Gillard. Credit: The University of Sydney

Gillard was feted by Macquarie University last week at a ceremony led by Governor-General Sam Mostyn. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, Gillard received a gong from the University of Sydney. In a speech at the sandstone uni’s Great Hall, she told students “the rise of a privileged and powerful uber-rich, the embrace in the United States and many other parts of the world of a more authoritarian form of politics, and an alarming backlash against gender equality” were all global challenges antithetical to USyd’s values.

The former PM also hit out at the Trump administration’s assault on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the big corporates such as Meta and Amazon which have fallen into line behind the prez.

Her latest awards mean Gillard has at least seven honorary doctorates. Meanwhile, Kevin Rudd is still telling anyone who’ll........

© Brisbane Times