Many years ago, I was encouraged to put my name forward to chair a significant government board. It seemed like a long shot to me, I wasn’t in anyone’s club, but my supporters were insistent. I agreed to let my name go into the mix.

It was a surprise then when the chair of the selection committee called a few weeks later and said with an apologetic tone: “Sorry Julianne, it’s just not your turn.”

I felt as though I’d stepped back into the school yard. Once again it wasn’t my turn to bat, bowl, kick, be the captain or whatever. No reason was needed, skill and knowledge didn’t come into it, there was no trial or audition, a decision had been made.

Even then I could see the pattern, it was always less likely to be a girl’s turn.

Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the US Congress used the phrase It’s not your turn like a motivational mantra in countless speeches. She’s a few decades older than me, and much more ambitious, so no doubt heard it more often than I did. Her response was to keep pushing, to argue that decisions should be made on merit, not favours, gender or age.

Reading the reports of

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