Oh the phone has been ringing and my inbox pinging with requests for comment on this story. Have you caught it yet? Greens senator Sarah Hanson Young's 2 year old daughter Kora was thrown out of the senate last night even though she wasn't crying or running around or being disruptive.
And today, everyone has their knickers in a knot, insisting either that it was an outrageous travesty or that it….
…..serves her right because kids should never be at work in the first place.
Putting up the latter argument is Tory Maguire from The Punch who writes:
Senator Hanson-Young has staff, in fact there are thousands of
people in Parliament House during sitting weeks. Surely one of them
could have played with Kora for half an hour while her mother did the
job she gets paid very well for by the Australian tax-payers.
There is also a child-care centre about 500 metres from the Senate
Chamber, which, in case you are wondering about its standards, has a
marble sand pit. These are not facilities available to most working
mothers, who if they took their two-year-old to work would be promptly
shown the door.
But Senator Hanson-Young, 27, was apparently very distressed, and
for the first time in a while it appears there’s multi-partisan
agreement in the Upper House, with Liberals, Greens and members of the
ALP all outraged at her treatment.
Senator Hanson-Young has now inadvertently turned Kora into a stunt
baby, in the vein of Charlotte Marshall who was controversially
breast-fed in the Victorian parliament by her mother Kirstie Marshall
in 2003. Breast-feeding of babies is now also allowed in the Federal
Parliament.
But “pleasant diversions” do not belong in the Senate, any more than
they belong in the High Court, or any other work place where the future
of the nation is being debated and decided.
Look, I've brought my kids to work on occasion. There was even that scandalous time I apparently sent a work experience student out to BUY MY SON A BANANA which you can read about here. Yes, every working mother has a raft of usually complex childcare arrangements in place but from time to time, those arrangements break down. Someone gets sick or you have to work late or life just gets in the way.
And sometimes? Sometimes little kids just need a few minutes of face time and a cuddle from mum or dad. I'd suggest that's the story in this case. Senator Hanson-Young says she was about to be separated from her 2 year old for 24hours which is a big deal for a 2 year old. Is it that big a deal? Was she screaming or having a tantrum or singing Big Red Car at the top of her little voice?
She wasn't. She was sitting quietly on mummy's lap while mummy did the usual multi-tasking thing of working and mothering simultaneously. Not ideal for anyone but it was obviously the best she could do in that moment.
I've long thought that a career in politics is UTTERLY INCOMPATIBLE with motherhood, particularly when your kids are young. First of all there's the Canberra thing – hello! Nothing against Canberra, except when your family are living IN ANOTHER STATE. Then there are the long hours, all the travel and generally a lifestyle not compatible with raising a young family.
I think this is a travesty because we NEED more women in politics, state and federal. Hats off to Tanya Plibersek and all the other mums who do it tough in parliament because I certainly couldn't do it.
Natasha Stott Despoja who I know and admire and adore, said when she left politics to spend more time with her two little kids and husband that she hoped women wouldn't read this as a sign of defeat or an indication that you can't balance the two things. But that's exactly what lay behind her decision (at least it seemed to) – that she couldn't juggle the ridiculous demands of federal politics with the real needs of her family. I do know what she was trying to get across – the last thing our generation of mothers want to say is that it's too hard or that your kids suffer when you're working long hours – but hey, it's the truth. I'm sorry and I wish it wasn't true but it is.
And with all the coverage of this story today, I wonder how many young women are going to want to pursue a political career?
READ MORE HERE…
Comments
107 Comments so far
I’m still not sure how it comes down to only mothers? It seems like you place unreasonably high expectations around being a mother but fail to mention the role of the father in any way, shape or form.
Like somehow a woman with career ambitions who also happens to be a parent is a dirty concept.
Why is it the mother is the one left holding the baby? From what I can tell it takes two people to conceive a child and presumably the child was wanted by both parents. Where is your treatise against working fathers? Why is the concept of a “working father” so sidelined by society?
Perhaps these children are in a better position because they have a mother who feels fulfilled through her career and life just as equally as through her children.
Why is this such an abhorrent concept?
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As an example, the lovely Mia herself. Look at her career and how its changed over the last few years to make her more flexible for her growing family. Its about compromise.
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No no no no no no. I dont have any issue with working mothers. I have friends who are working mothers. Wonderful mums who I love to bits. Designers, a GP, a real estate agent, retail workers and admin workers. The thing that stands out with these women is that they tailor their working hours to make sure that they are available for their children. Two are single mums. One is a qualified professional and works in a job far below her qualifications because she wants to be able to leave at 2.30pm to pick her kids up from school. Sure, if she worked longer hours in her area of specialty there would be more money but she wants to be around for her kids.
Indeed my issue isnt with the poor or single mothers but with mothers who can afford to compromise but wont compromise their career choices to make life a little more pleasant for their children.
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Much as I agree with your views Lu, I wonder if, by your criteria, should single parents, or double income, or the poor, lower income people be allowed to have children?
Seems your heightened Stepford view is a tad out of touch with reality. There will always be poor and two income families. My beef isn’t with the poor, or single mums, it’s with parents who can well afford to take care of business, such as politicians, without having to fall back on the ‘baby on the lap’ excuse at question time.
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He was probably in parliament….
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Or at least pay lip service to the concept of “working fathers” – maybe ask where the child’s father was after 8 pm.
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Ok Lu…we all get it. You don’t think very much of working mums.
I’m not even a working mum and you make me feel guilty for even thinking about trying to combine a career and being a parent.
How about you lay off the veiled comments for a while? I’m sure working mums guilt themselves enough without someone telling them that their children aren’t their first priority.
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I have just read in todays SMH that it has happened again with another child (12 months old) and mother in Parliament for a late night vote. Apparently 8pm, after the child had left childcare for the day. My problem with this ? That poor child should have been at home in bed asleep. Not hanging out at mums work. Its a very sad lifestyle for that poor child to be living and very out of touch with most families lives.
I’m sure this poor woman had no choice, as she most likely had no back up plan. Back up plans usually rely on the generosity of others who make being available for their children their first priority. I am the ‘backup plan’ for a few mothers at school who work and often cant collect their children on time. I agree to do it because I feel sorry for the kids. Whether they realise it or not it does make their kids upset.
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From the comments alone, there seem to be so many jobs where it is not practicable to bring a child into the workplace. Sure there are some workplaces, perhaps the children’s section of a library, or a creche, where there would be little disruption, but in the main, it can only be disruptive or distracting.
Commenters have listed an array of jobs, from gyneocologist to checkout chick, where it is totally unworkable. So should mothers bring their child into work in these situations? Yes, I suppose, given that we need to understand life situations and not just rigid rules. Yet where this falls down somewhat is in jobs where the employee is required to have a 100% concentration span. In these cases, someone else in the organisation is always appointed to pick up the slack. For every child brought to work, the employer loses the services of another employee.
While as Mia writes, there are times when nothing else is possible, listing the recent Ch 9 makeup room, where two children watched cartoons, ‘watched by everyone’. This situation, like many, can be workable. It wasn’t for a whole day, or even half a day. So it works, to some extent. The mum feels ‘wrenched’ between career and motherhood, the organisation is capable enough to cope, so no biggie.
In many other workplaces it is a biggie, and mothers taking on these job positions need to assure themselves, their families and their employer that they have the situation firmly under control. Otherwise it will always result in taking another worker from their job to look after the child.
A case by case situation, I suppose. It’s idealistic to be compassionate, but necessary to be realistic. In this case, I’d suggest that the politician concerned did not have enough fall-back plans to cope with the position she holds in parliament. So it was unacceptable; understandable, but unacceptable. If there is an apology required it should be from Member to the House.
Lu, Missamoo and many others, I agree with you. Cath, I don’t need the last word, though like yourself, I also choose to disagree. We seem to see the situation from distant parts of the fine line. Mine is drawn hard and rigid, as you say, yours, to my mind is much too lax. Mia seems somewhere closer to the middle, though off centre towards your opinion.
Thanks for the opportunity to express my views.
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Thanks parlymum and others for the inside word – v interesting to have a bit more context. And to the people who posted more detail on the story. A really difficult situation for her it appears. And yes, agree that I want my politicians to live in the real world. But for the vast majority of working women and men, the real world does not include bringing a child to work. not in a million years would I be able to (or want to) bring my 2 year old into my workplace. My mind would not be on my work 100% – could any parent HONESTLY say that they were paying attention to something else 100% with a 2 year old (however angelic and colouring in obsessed)? And if you’re being paid to do a job, your mind should be on that.
For the record, although my hubby currently has the more demanding and well paying job – if there is an issue with childcare, we debate who has the most important meetings etc that day and then decide, it’s never a foregone conclusion, and I’d say 50% of the time he picks up the slack.
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ok i’m taking a deep breath and saying this. I’m not a working mother but my mother was (five kids) i would go to meet her after school and sit in the public foyer near her desk and read. After a few weeks she got asked to send me to the cafeteria instead as it was work place. It was the Arts Centre which has probably one of the most relaxed kids in the workplace rules.
However this brings me to my next point i am a performer and many of my friends are also plus they are mums, can you imagine paying over a hundred dollars a ticket to see a show only to have stop ten minutes in for a brief pause while the lead actress goes side stage to cuddle her screaming child? or if the child of any of the actors male of female was watching the show and ran right up onto the stage (so dangerous!) causing the show to stop?
How many of you would find this acceptable?
Also as i am currently between gigs i am waitressing would you mind waiting over and hour for your meal because the waitress was busy in the corner putting her child to sleep because the restaurant was busy and at the last minute called her in. Or would you find appropriate to get a martini from a bartender with her baby in a baby bjorn thingy?
My guess is probably not……but i could be wrong maybe i’ll try it
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I think the workplace, whether thats Parliament or a supermarket checkout, is not an appropriate place for a child. They are being paid to do their job with 100% focus or at least give it their best. I wouldnt want my GP giving me a pap test with her 3yo pulling on her leg or running riot in the waiting room because I know her focus would not be fully on the job. But Mia, we’ll agree to disagree on this one !
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Lu, as a tax-payer and a constituent, I really want the politicians who are representing me to have lives – regardless of how messy and inconvenient and difficult that sometimes is. In fact that’s WHY I want them to have lives….
I want them to have juggle kids and pets and parents and grandchildren and work and home because how else are they going to know what it’s like for the rest of us and be able to petition for policy changes on our behalf? How else are they going to advocate for the infrastructure we all need to make our lives easier and better?
As for why so many working parents/mothers do the juggle even though we often feel guilty?
Some of us do it for financial reasons – we need two incomes (or one income in the case of single parents or when the Dad isn’t working) to keep our families afloat.
Others do it to stay sane, to nourish the parts of ourselves that want to have a life outside of the lives of our families.
For me personally, I juggle and I deal with the guilt because the alternative is a pretty unhappy mother for my children. Perhaps that makes me selfish, I don’t know……
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And as for other female politicians being able to ‘succesfully’ combine their children with their portfolios without having such dramas, I sincerely doubt its a great arrangement. I would really like to know how much time they actually spend with their children. Realistically very very little.
This situation and the other instances of breastfeeding mothers in Parliament is an example of how screwed up priorities can get when waving the womens rights flag.
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Having never been a ‘working’ mum I cant relate to this situation so I may have no right to comment.
However as a tax payer I do. I want my politicians 100% committed to their job. Not torn of juggling or feeling they should be elsewhere.
As a mum I also think I can comment. Children, especially in their early years deserve stability, security and the care of their mother. Having a child is a privelege not a right. Unfortunately too many women get tied up with the juggle believing that children are a right and they can have whatever life they are thrown by their parents and its all OK as long as mum is happy.
I know plenty of working mums who feel guilty. You have to ask why they keep living at a hectic pace giving only 50% to anything they do when their guilt is telling them its the wrong thing to do.
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I’ll tell you why working mums do that Lu -TO PAY A MORTGAGE THAT PUTS A ROOF OVER THEIR CHILDS HEAD!
or should us working Mums quite and bring up our family on the street? Would that make you and us feel less guilty???
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Tori, I think it’s both a societal and a personal reason for the split between men and women re: expectations when looking after kids, especially sick kids.
I am personally quite anal about many things in my 2 year old’s life, so more often than not, I’ll take on caregiving duties when she’s ill. I also like to be the one who goes to Dr’s appointments with her – my husband never seems to ask the enough questions. Control freak am I!
It may also be because my hours are really flexible – most of the time, I just need a laptop and can work from home at any hour of the day. My husband is bound to an office during business hours, so a bigger deal for him not to show up for work.
I do remind him all the time
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I know I am totally chiming in late here, but did anyone actually read a full account of what happened? Kora’s Dad was in Adelaide, and the baby-sitter/nanny was about to fly back to Adelaide with the baby. Sarah Hanson-Young was spending ten minutes with her daughter when the chamber bells rang for a vote, completely unexpected. Senators have four minutes to be in the Senate for a vote once the bell starts ringing. Four minutes was not enough time to drop the baby off at the baby-sitter’s office and make it to the senate. The voting process in the senate took less than four minutes. Why Kora could not have been in there for FOUR MINUTES while they voted is beyond me. There were no papers to be read, no debate, no speeches, it was a simple vote.
And I am a teacher, and just a couple of weeks ago I had to take both my children to work – it was for a faculty meeting after school, and I had no other options for child care that afternoon. Luckily it was in the library, so my children sat and read books quietly (luckily they are old enough to do that).
My husband is the boss at his work, and he has had the kids with him countless of times.
Sometimes parents get in a bind – more often than not it ends up being the mother’s problem. If we want more women in the work place, we need to accept that sometimes, things go wrong, and we may have to *gasp* see a child in the workplace!
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On the last couple of comments made by Mia and NJ…
I am a manager of a large group of staff and I don’t have any kids yet. But i am continually shocked by how so many people seem to see child care as just the mothers responsibility. And this seems to include mothers themselves. I see situations where the mother in the relationship has the better, more highly paid job and yet, when the kid is sick there is absolutely no way the father is going to have a day off to look after him/her, no matter what the mother may be missing at work as a result. I have to say there are some rare situations though where both parents genuinely seem to evenly share the workload.
But I often wonder what causes the general imbalance here. I think a lot of it has to happen within the relationship, rather than employer pressures etc. Is it mothers being martyrs or fathers being not interested, or is it something else????
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I am female and agree that it does appear to be difficult to juggle a career in politics and children BUT I think this is just completely wrong. Having a work place that is child friendly I think means having a work place that understands when you are a little bit late, or leave in a rush for a sick child or give flexible hours. Working in parliament there would have been countless available people to take the child, that aside a day at work should not be a day with a child. No matter what your job is a job is a job. Its a time to focus on your work and do what you are paid for. You never see teachers, doctors, nurses, checkout chicks, bakers, builders or anyone else take their kids to work and thats because its not safe and its not appropriate. I just do not understand at all why this even happened we can’t take life too seriously but there is a time and a place. She was just fortunate that her child behaved she couldnt have known if she would have been disruptive or not.
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Mia, a really good point about the double standards when it comes to men and women re: raising kids and who’s most often left holding the baby.
I work in a mostly-female workplace and we have discussions like this all the time! When kids are sick, it’s usually always mum who juggles the sickness with work. It’s ‘expected’ that women do this kind of stuff – it’s assumed that this is part of you’re job when being a mum. But (often) when dad takes on the same role – it’s called being a ‘great’ dad or a ‘wonderful partner’ because I think it goes beyond societal expectations are of men.
Very annoying.
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The reason it wouldn’t make news if a male politician brought their toddler into parliament is because this would never happen. Regardless of how equal your relationship and how wonderful a father your partner is, almost every time, when there’s a childcare problem, it’s the mother who is left holding the baby.
WHen I did the Today show this week, there were two toddlers in the make-up room watching cartoons while everyone kept an eye on them. Their mother, a regular on the show, obviously had a last minute drama with childcare (trust me, no mother WANTS to bring her child into her workplace just for kicks, it’s an impossible wrench and a lot like being pulled in two) and didn’t want to shirk her work commitments. No big deal.
My sympathies to Sarah Hanson Young for everything she’s been put through in these past couple of days after something that should have been small and innocent and not even commented upon.
Women – and men – should not be made to feel like pariahs when our two worlds (work and kids) collide sometimes. IT’S LIFE.
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Disagree, Gig. And with respect, you would not know when the last time a male brought a kid into parliament was. And neither would I. It wouldn’t make the news unless it was in session. But people – male and female, bring children into the workplace every day for short periods, to fill gaps and due to special circumstances. Most contemporary workplaces at least pay lip service to the notion of flexibility in order to retain skilled and experienced staff who also happen to be parents. And humans.
That’s quite a rigid view you’re taking there, and I’m quite surprised you would make the issue about gender. There’s no such thing as no ifs and buts in a contemporary working environment, which is something that Parliament is apparently striving to be. But feel free to have the last word if you like. I’m happy to agree to disagree in general, on this one.
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Cath, you’re over-explaining it. This woman, this politician, this highly paid public servant, should have all the resources in place to deal with child care. And not cry the ‘child care’ card.
When was the last time a male pollie brought his kid into parliament? It’s as simple as that. No kids in the workplace, especially not the workplace that supposedly runs the country.
No ifs, and no buts.
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What Cath said!
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“That’s part of the reason I specified that I work for a large company. We’re structured differently & there’s no such thing as an “office assistant/junior”. As for coffee, people either get their own (instant) in the kitchen, or walks downstair to one of the cafes in the building.
Posted by: Lulu | Friday, June 19, 2009 at 05:22 PM”
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Lulu, I work for a large company also. I wouldn’t call myself an office assistant or junior, however I do try to ‘look after’ everyone in the office as much as possible as I feel it is my job to help others to do their job.
I like to think of it as teamwork, everyone does their bit to keep the company moving; if my CEO has back to back conf calls/meetings, I’ll get his lunch. Similarly if someone who is on the same level as me is busy and I am not then I’ll get their lunch if necessary too.
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I just find it interesting that everyone assumes that she should use the childcare centre because it is 500 metres away and has a “marble sandpit” (te he). It’s like people assuming that you will join their gym because “guess what- it has a creche!”. Maybe she’s not comfortable with that particular childcare model/centre and generally uses an alternative.
No understanding of what the circs were so I’ll refrain from any judgement whatsoever.
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I empathise with Sarah. I am consistently singled out, humiliated, remonstrated and punished at my workplace – because I have a preschool aged child and unfortunately, preschool hours of operation and my workplace’s hours of operation are not the same.
It is pathetic that people are pointing a finger at this child and her mother – crying “it’s a stunt!!”
No working mother wishes to cause problems at her workplace – work life and family life don’t mix too well – but family needs to come first because it’s the only one we have.
If the Australian Federal Government doesn’t understand this, what fucking hope does my backwards, stone-age, vindictive, petty workplace have!?
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I take my kids to work if I need to. I only do it if I really really need to. I am sure that is the case here. Give the woman a break.
The vote was scheduled late, she probably didn’t have any other viable option. I mean how many of you would leave your little kid/s with a co-worker who you may or may not know very well? I would rather take the child with me.
I think if she was taking Kora to every session that would be a different matter. The fact is, she wasn’t. It was a once off scenario.
She is owed an apology.
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Cath, I want to kiss you right now. You said what I was trying to say earlier, but said it so much more eloquently.
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Regarding coffee and bananas… you all need to get with the programme! Nowadays, nobody gets sent out for coffee… the coffee truck pulls up outside!!! (lol!)
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Cath- you are a dream, just when I think this world is full of rule followers and zealots there you are.
Life is NOT black and white but full of shades of grey. Give and take a little and understand that what goes around comes around in the work place.
I know that if I were the Senator I would have made the same decision, bugger the rules, it was not unprofessional it was being a human and loving mother.
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well said Cath!
I just wish the media would present an honest account of what happened. I just saw an add for Channel 10 news that said “screaming toddler ejected from the senate”! Talk about twisting a story and omitting important details.
But i suppose that’s another story….
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Mia, I don’t actually think it was a stunt, as I honestly don’t think any caring mother would put her child in the spotlight like that.
However, people who think it IS a stunt believe the Greens were trying to push the agenda of child friendly workplaces, by getting a woman to bring her kid in and see what happens. Kind of like when Larry Flynt ‘bought’ the newsagency and sold the edition of Hustler to get himself arrested and highlight the issue of free speech. Or when women breastfeed in places they know it isn’t welcome, to get the issue out in the open.
As I said, I truly don’t believe that’s what she was doing, having seen her interview afterwards, but it’s an easy assumption to make.
God I feel like a banana right now…
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Wow. It’s always interesting to see how comments can begin with a wave of positivity, then some negativity creeps in, then it peaks, then it’s a bloody tidal wave of negativity!
I find it really sad that people are so quick to assume the mother of a two year old would seize an opportunity to use her ‘for a political stunt’. She doesn’t regularly use The Senate as a childcare centre, she’s a professional woman who usually uses professional childcare. She was spending a little time with her daughter, when she was unexpectedly called in for a vote. The session may well have taken longer than anticipated, and she may have missed that time with her daughter, who was quite settled at the time. She was simply caught short, and made a quick judgement on what she thought would be least distressing to her child. WHO IS TWO. I’m quite sure she didn’t imagine it would be overly disruptive to the other members, and it would most likely not have if it were handled better.
Clearly on the spot, she thought this would not be the end of the world. What should she have done? Just hand the kid to anyone? With very limited time, remember. Or hold on to her child and hope for the best? I don’t blame her in the slightest for the course of action she took, and think she was treated appallingly. It was a ‘one off’ situation, for god’s sake. No-one’s saying ‘let’s have all the kiddies in Parliament’!
You do what you have to do – sometimes the best you can come up with is quite imperfect. There would be situations like this in every industry you can think of – film, television, schools, GP surgeries, large corporations – you name it. Having kids at work is the exception, not the rule. But it happens occasionally, and it really should not be that big a deal. That’s life. Sick kids, last minute meetings, runaway dogs, aged parents. Life. Pollies are human, too, (ok, maybe I can’t speak for all of them!). If a woman, who is a mother, feels she can make a contribution as a politician, or anything else, more power to her! She does not have to wait ‘until the kids are older’, or choose not to have them. We can accommodate all situations in nearly all workplaces if we can just be prepared to bend slightly on occasion.
‘There but for the grace of whatever god you believe in go I’, I reckon. In the workplace – make life a bit easier for colleagues experiencing challenges, so they can survive their life and get the job done. Including getting their kids bananas, and making coffee, on occasion – of course! And hopefully, what goes around, comes around, in the workplace – just like everywhere else.
And re the ‘if that’s the worst thing that’s happened to her, she should toughen up’ comments? Yeah. I completely agree. Having your 2 year old taken from you and receiving a public dressing down in a parliament full of mostly middle aged man would not be in the slightest bit humiliating.
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What the hell is wrong with getting your boss a cup of coffee..perhaps when you are boss you may like the same accolade, it doesn’t hurt…
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George, I was going back 35 years. Of course, Qantas is the epitome of excellence, nowadays……
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No wonder Qantas is slowly going under.
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Posted by: gigdiary | Friday, June 19, 2009 at 04:28 PM
That’s part of the reason I specified that I work for a large company. We’re structured differently & there’s no such thing as an “office assistant/junior”. As for coffee, people either get their own (instant) in the kitchen, or walks downstair to one of the cafes in the building.
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Well, it wasn’t a stunt, it was a misplaced action of child rearing…and deservedly so…
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Yep, agree with Cate, and gig. If you are junior staff, you get the lower tasks.That’s the way it works, until you are senior enough to start delegating. When I started at Qantas,and the boss wanted someone to run a passenger,in a wheelchair, out to an aircraft,I’d put my hand up. By the time I got back, via the coffee shop, and a couple of chats, with friends,an hour had gone by……….
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To all those who claim this is a ‘stunt’…what kind of ‘stunt’ do you mean?
So many conspiracy theories but honestly, you really think she PLANNED to have her child kicked out and then…what? What would the point of the stunt have been?
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Daniela and Lulu. Girls, you are dreaming, the world doesn’t work that way…
I’ve hired many girls in the capacity of office assistant, they’ve all been great, did the mailing, bought my lunch, had a fun time doing it, ‘cos they got to liaise with the other business owners in the street on a daily basis.
It was a treat for Sally that I sent her out on the post office run, and btw, get me a chicken sandwich. She never felt demeanded by it. She was on free time herself. I knew that. She enjoyed herself chatting with everyone else in the suburb. But she was a great office girl when I needed her.
Could she run my business? No way! Could she write music charts? No way, but was she a great person to have around the office, a wonderful office assitant? Absolutely! Sally was the best. Other girls were the best too. And everyone of them never hesitated at fetching my coffee or my breakfast…
Maybe I was such a cross-patch that they didn’t dare to refuse…
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I think the Senator did the wrong thing. As Kerri very eloquently said, we need to encourage women to be in the workplace (particularly Parliament) but that doesn’t mean these workplaces are not child-free environments. In some circumstances I could understand – an emergency, for example – but in this case, as so many have said, childcare was available and, as Tory Maguire pointed out, was there no one in Parliament House who could mind the kid for a bit?
For those who believe women – mothers especially – have no place in Parliament, Hanson’s actions have only added fuel to their argument.
Off topic – Daniela – I too am Gen Y. Quite frankly, if I wanted to work in magazines and got workplacement at a place like Cleo or Cosmo, I’d happily do the boss’ laundry if I thought it’d help. It’s the whole point of work placement, even of employment. You don’t start out on an even playing field with the boss. You work your way there. You can’t expect to go into a brand new workplace and be treated the same way seasoned, experienced employees are. It’s not the way it works. Unfortunately, it’s people who think that that give Gen Y a bad name.
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What the fuck is going on today? Is this Feral Friday? Lighten up people! It’s the weekend.You can have as much coffee, and as many bananas , as you want………..
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The real world is v different..
Not only is it a matter of earning your stripes but why would someone on a salary “x” times more than a junior go out and get their own dry cleaning/coffee/banana? it’s plain economics.
When I was a junior I was thankful to do these jobs. It meant if I worked hard I wouldn’t have to do it forever.Its life – and being female, it was the male juniors who had to go and pick up clients golf clubs and put them in their cars before spending the afternoon on the golf course- yes really – one of the few times I was pleased I wasn’t part of the boy’s club!
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well thank you, Sackville. she was out of line, and deserving of my ire…my ire is always well-deserved…
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P.S. and for Daniela, honestly, you’re living in fantasy land. If someone is providing you with an income, you do what they ask. Otherwise start your own company, and get your lackeys to do what YOU want.
Are you telling me if you worked your arse off as a high-powered executive, you’d never ask someone else to buy you a banana?????
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Saw this story on TV and thought – oh no, TRY not to comment – but I can’t help myself.
I believe we are confusing the issues here. YES we need to encourage women to be in the workforce. But this does NOT mean we can’t have child-free workplaces. Workplaces – not all, but certainly Parliament, operating theatres, courtrooms, boardrooms etc – need to be child-free. To make them family friendly, we need to ensure good child-care is available.
In this case, child-care WAS available, but Hanson chose not to avail herself of it. Not on. An embarrassment for mothers everywhere.
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Yes, Lulu, it was so cold once that my dad put a candle on the table, and us kids all sat around it to get warm, and when it was really cold he used to light it!
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officegirl, I meant that in this company, in my department, it doesn’t happen.
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