Upon the defeat last week of NSW Premier Nathan Rees, Kristina Keneally became NSW Labor's first female leader and the first female premier for NSW.
NSW has had few female MPs: there are 1933 former male MPs but only 52
females. NSW has trailed other states and the commonwealth on almost
every measure of women's achievement. The Northern Territory has had a female First Minister and the ACT has had two. WA, Victoria and Queensland have had female premiers. In NSW, only Rosemary Foot, who became Liberal Deputy in 1983, set an Australian record for women in politics.
In the States, only Anna Bligh in Queensland has retained government at an election. Perhaps this explains why some observers think women tend to be handed the leadership when no-one else wants it.
Another cynical explanation for women being installed as leaders is that men have made a mess and the housewives and mothers of politics are expected to clean up after them. Well, male premiers have been shaping NSW for over 150 years, so Keneally must clean up after 41 predecessors.
What is certain is that it would be unfair to expect any woman to decline a position, especially when women seldom get a second chance. In her memoir Chika, Kerry Chikarovski described the exhilaration and terror of having an opportunity to lead the party. She believed that women must take chances. If nothing else, it should make the way easier for those who come after.
Keneally's Catholic faith has been noted, but her relative youth and inexperience seem more significant. She is two weeks short of her 41st birthday. Only Nick Greiner (Liberal premier 1988–1992) was younger on attaining office, and he had won an election. According to David Clune and Ken Turner in their book on 20th century NSW premiers, the average age was 51.
Clune and Turner note that the time of waiting as an MP averaged 15 years, but has been falling. Since Neville Wran, who attained office in 1976, the average time of waiting for premiers was just eight years. Keneally has been in parliament for six years and a minister for one. She has not been a member in opposition.
Indeed, it might be lack of experience outside government that makes so many Labor MPs in 2009 seem unappreciative of the privilege they seem determined to lose at the 2011 election.
The new premier and her supporters have begun emphasising