I don’t think Australians in general are particularly anti-childfree. I was under the impression the Americans are.

so I was saying that Australia is relatively tolerant, perhaps I was wrong.

Our Prime Minister does not quite have the views I thought he did, but has a childfree Deputy. I am shocked at his comments on womens “duty”. Perhaps you would like to read this link

I completely agree with Kat above, saying that “Being a woman, Julia Gillard would be in a better position to comment on women losing their virginity than any man.” Because, evidently, I can’t imagine any average father chatting with his daughter about this subject. Unless the mother is absent, it’s usually her task of informing and preparing and being a friend for the girl… And most of all, in those moments, you don’t really need a mother as much as a friend.

Anyway, such public comments should be banned according to a law of common sense or something.

Yep, and Helen Clark showed that it’s possible to be childfree (and outspokenly so), run a country for a decade, and be considered smart enough to take on a high-ranking job at the UN at the end of it. Sounds awfully one dimensional to me. (Helen’s leadership of New Zealand warms the cockles of my black childfree heart …)

Being a woman, Julia Gillard would be in a better position to comment on women losing their virginity than any man. Something that Mr Brandis might have considered, had he put his brain into gear before opening his trap. Ah, it’s good to see that the beer-swilling, mouthbreathing, “get back in the kitchen and make me some pie” Aussie bloke mentality is alive and apparently, thriving… can we just prop this guy in the museum next to the dinosaurs, please and thanks?.

Yes I guess it can hurt a lot when you have broken up with someone under those circumstances. I suppose its simply a luck issue for her as it would seem as though she just met the right guy. It does sound like he may have thought about it more than he let on. I guess he just need someone else to confirm his feelings.
Again its just about not questioning things his own upbringing and social circle.

I am an older age group in my late 30s and most of our friends have children. One of our friends who have only recently had two children in quick sucession, actually said to me” i never thought with us it would become all about the kids” well duh he has had a rude awakening!

I think they thought they were somehow special and kids would not affect their relationship, but sadly things deteriorated fairly quickly under the pressure. Eventually they will work through it i suppose.

Yep, in the younger generations especially. I am 28 and have 6 female friends and 1 male who do not intend to ever have children. Of course, that’s only taking into account the people I’ve spoken to about it, so it’s likely there are more I don’t know about.

A friend (also in her late 20s) of mine has recently started a new relationship with a guy and he at first baulked at the idea of not having kids, but has thought about it and come round to the idea for various reasons. He said he’d never really thought about it before and is relieved that he met someone who had! In contrast my ex never even considered the possibility of not having kids, which ended our relationship. He’s in his 40s, and in his generation it’s just different.

Side note: it would have been lovely if my friend could have met this guy NOT IN THE SAME WEEK that I broke up with my ex. God it hurts to hear her talk about how easy it was to solve the no kids issue. I wish she was a little more sensitive.

Well here in Aus you have a baby bonus( its funny in this blog to consider a baby a bonus) which is a payment for the act of giving birth to a child! as a taxpayer funding this I am more than entitled to an opinion as well in spite of being childfree.

However I suspect there is a growing group of people here who are going to be childfree. It is actually a relatively tolerant place so don’t be too fooled by what you might hear but there is overall little questioning or debate of the status quo when it comes to kids, most people seem to have decided here its simply “what you do”

However the original comments made by Tony Abbot weren’t actually that bad. He just said he’d like his daughters to save their virginity for someone special. Fair enough really. I hear he also said that it’s the “greatest gift you can give someone” though which is frankly, retarded. Letting someone be the first dude to stick it in is *not* the full extent of my worth as a partner. (Luckily!)

The current govt is really scaring me actually – at least the Libs don’t pretend they aren’t conservative. They certainly weren’t anywhere near as prescriptive in terms of what morals the general population should hold.

In general I feel that Australia is becoming a more conservative and less tolerant nation than the one that I grew up in. It’s possible this is just because I’m more aware nowdays, but the current govt is also really starting to bother me.

Not that I should worry – the way things are going over here we’ll probably be in a dictatorship soon enough anyway, so why stress about who to vote for!

All I can say is, the world is going downhill, and there are many many times when I think I am glad that my children won’t be around to see it.

As for Julia – whether I agree with her politics or not, I am incredibly glad that she is around to show women what we are capable of. She is intelligent and, in fact, incredibly well rounded. We need more like her.

Miss Fanny – one of the best bits about travelling in a country is that you see it through rose coloured glasses – you won’t have to worry about the politics. It’s a great place if you don’t watch the news!

But back to the main subject, with what little I’m familiar with Australian politics, I’m not really surprised. It’s left-hand of being racist towards immigration and for some cruel reason let Paul Hogan escape in the 1980s; what do you expect?

Well done Lee, turning George Brandis’ own logic back on him

And, what makes him a well rounded, multi-dimensional, well integrated personality? Oh, it must be his narrow-minded, sexist, very 1950’s view of women and the world. Is he threatened that there are women who would “just say no” to his pathetic, and undoubtedly defective, genetic offerings? I’m sure that Brandeis would prefer it if Gillard would shuffle back to home and hearth and keep all of her opinions to herself, not just those on parenting.

There are plenty of parents whose sole focus is their child or children to the exclusion of everything and everyone else in the world. Does that not make them one-dimensional?

As has been discussed on this blog, if having children was all that qualified you to be able to parent there would be no abused children. or hungry children or adults with issues due to bad parenting–obviously. Show me the scientific study that proves a correlation between functioning reproductive organs and emotional/psychological balance, ability to empathize/sympathize, intelligence, the ability to reason–and let’s not forget, earn a living.

These are just throwaway comments used to dismiss an opinion or get someone to shut-up. If you can pull out the non-conformist freak label, then you automatically diminish the person and put them on the defensive–if they buy into the game.

I may not have children but I possess common sense and I can see the evidence of what does and doesn’t work as it manifests in a child’s behavior.

Sounds more like a case of sexist politicians who can’t find any better criticism to make of a female opponent.