So theLabor Party leader

is yet to be decided - or is it?
With the departure of the leader who lost the election which could not be lost there is the need to find a new leader. Simple... or so one would think.
You see there was a Deputy Leader....my brother taught this deputy. She was in one of the maths classes he taught. He must sometimes wonder what he managed to teach her.  
You see she would have had the numbers but doesn't want the job of Leader of the Opposition. She claims it is because she has an eight year old and the extra time involved would take time away from her child.
The Senior Cat and I were discussing this. We were also discussing the overall reason why so few women enter politics. I have been thinking about it since because I have known and still know a number of female members of parliament. My state member is female. My federal member is female. There are two former Senators - opposite sides of the political divide - who are good friends. There was a member of the local "Democrats" and there are others I don't know well.
Yes, there are women around but many of them tend to be slightly older. Is that it? Do they wait? Is it because like the former Deputy Leader of the Opposition (who may yet get returned) they have children?
A former federal MP I know has two children. They were very young when he was in politics and he admits it was very hard on his wife. It would have been hard enough if he had been a state MP in a suburban electorate but as a federal MP who needed to be in the nation's capital on a regular basis it was even harder. When he was home he also had, in order to keep his registration up against the day he left politics, to work one day a week in his profession as a doctor. Their marriage has survived but it hasn't been easy.
It is probably easier for MPs if they aren't married. If they are married then they need a partner who is as committed to the cause as they are. They need some sort of career they can return to when they leave politics. Even the former Senators I know went on to sit on committees - or, more likely, chair them. 
The new Prime Minister has two young daughters. It isn't going to be easy for them because there will now be extra security. Their father will be constantly criticised in the media. His job isn't by any means certain - and he could easily be voted out three years from now.
I have been asked more than once why I didn't go in for politics. The answer to that has been that I would have needed to go in as an independent. I couldn't join a political party. There is no party I feel fits my views of the sort of society we should be working towards. I am not tough enough to face the constant criticism politicians are subjected to or the stamina to face it either. 
Someone else recently told me, "We should make it easier for women to enter politics." I am not sure I agree. It would be good to see more women there, particularly women who have experienced relationships and brought up children. 
I remember the day I was sitting in a lecture at law school. One of the former Senators was there as well. The lecturer, a professor of law, was talking about a case and about the ministerial intervention in it and how the case was decided. And then the Senator, who had been the Minister at the time, said, "The Minister is present and the Minister made the decision on the grounds that she is a wife and a mother and that is what she would have wanted if she was in that position."
It was a good decision too. It has formed the basis for many decisions since and helped many people.
Perhaps we need to look for leaders who are prepared to think like that.