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June 25th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Updated
Julia Gillard says she has no regrets about calling the election so many months in advance and believes Labor can still win, despite repeated polls showing the party is set for an historic defeat.
The Prime Minister has told the Women’s Weekly, in an interview conducted last month, that she is “glad” she announced the election date of September 14 eight months out.
“Every time I pick up a newspaper and it’s got articles about our school agenda… I think to myself, gee, I’m glad I cleared all of that space – got all that early election fever, to make sure we were talking about some of the big policy ideas,” she said.
“Because I know even from the few short weeks I was Prime Minister before the 2010 election, I know how ridiculous this can be. People trying to chase the car I’m in just in case I’m going to see the Governor-General.
“The debate about the election shouldn’t be about when it is, it should be about what future we are choosing for the nation when we vote.”
Ms Gillard said the ALP could win the election but would not name the seats she thought the party would pick up.
“I can go through a list of seats, but I believe we can win seats, the seat necessary to have a majority Labor government, and I would relish the opportunity to lead a majority Labor government,” she said.
The article does contain, however, references to Ms Gillard’s legacy as Prime Minister.
“I’m not a person who agonises,” she said.
“You always look back over your life and say there are some things you might have liked to have done (differently)… but I think I’ll be really comfortable with the choices I’ve made.”
PM knitting toy kangaroo for royal baby
The article was accompanied by a photograph of the Prime Minister knitting a toy kangaroo for the baby of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge due next month.
Ms Gillard’s communications team came up with the idea for the photograph, and her chief spin doctor John McTernan is quoted as saying “It was a no-brainer”.
But Opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne has derided the image, which News Limited newspapers have also criticised because Ms Gillard is a known republican and has been pushing the gender debate in politics.
“The Prime Minister has added to the general carnival atmosphere in this parliament with this photograph,” Mr Pyne said this morning.
“I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.
“What it shows is that we know the Prime Minister is good at spinning a yarn and now we have the photographic proof of it.”
Topics:
federal-elections,
federal-government,
gillard-julia,
government-and-politics,
australia
First posted
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-25/gillard-talks-about-womens-weekly-photo-shoot/4778142
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