Last Updated: April 09, 2011

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Julia Gillard overwhelmed and needs confidence, says Graham Richardson

Gillard and Nixon

Julia Gillard and Christine Nixon at a service for the Black Saturday bushfires held at Federation Square. Picture: Darren McNamara Source: Herald Sun

JULIA Gillard says she would never have become prime minister if she were risk averse - and insists she is a determined leader.

Ms Gillard said people who say she waits for a consensus rather than leading, do not understand who she is.

"I'm someone who grew up in a working class migrant family. I've ended up becoming Prime Minister of this nation," she told the ABC's 4 Corners program.

"I don't think that's the journey of someone who's risk averse."

However, she admitted the tough decision to challenge Kevin Rudd was not made quickly.

"I came to it very, very slowly," she said.

The PM said she did not worry about criticism about her capacity to lead and inspire people.

"I don't let things like that worry me and it's sort of a sideline," she said.

"What I judge myself by is whether I'm making the kind of difference that I want to make."

However, she is harsh on her own performance.

"There are days when I wake up saying to myself, I want to do a lot better than yesterday, absolutely," she said.

"But it's my judgment of my own performance and whether I'm actually making the kind of difference that I want to for the people of Australia that matters to me."

Ms Gillard said her top issues  for 2011 included improving education, lifting people out of welfare and putting a price on carbon.

"I certainly know where I want to take the country and why I'm in power doing this job," she said.

Ms Gillard has been criticised in recent weeks for her prime ministerial demeanour - especially when visiting flood victims in Queensland.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has labelled her "wooden".

Confidence down

Labor colleagues told 4 Corners that Ms Gillard has struggled to find her feet as prime minister because she found herself in the top job earlier than expected.

Former MP Jenny George said that no one in the party really expected Mr Rudd to be rolled before last year's election.

"In defence of Julia she hadn't had the time to really think through and articulate her own personal vision for the future of the nation," Ms George said.

"I think she would probably have wanted to wait a bit longer but (as) they say in politics 'When the train's leaving the station you make sure you're on it'."

Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson says Ms Gillard's confidence has taken a battering since becoming prime minister.

"She's just found it an overwhelming job over the first four months," he told Four Corners.

"She had an election campaign she was expected to win and didn't and I think that's had an effect.

"She needs to rebuild her confidence."

But Ms Gillard rejects any suggestion she got the top job before she was ready.

"I'm not going to agree with any of that language," she said.

"I'm doing this job, I'm able to do this job, I've got the capacities to do this job and I'll demonstrate that by getting the job done."

Welfare overhaul concerns

Meanwhile,  Ms Gillard is under pressure from the Labor caucus to ensure the right balance is found in any overhaul of the welfare system.

There has also been speculation the welfare overhaul could be used to find savings to pay for rebuilding following the summer floods and Cyclone Yasi.

In a speech last week Ms Gillard flagged welfare reforms in the May budget, including incentives, training programs and carrot-and-stick measures to ensure that "every Australian who can work, does work".

She said there were 800,000 part-time workers who wanted to work more hours and many thousands of disability pensioners who "may have some capacity to work".

Ms Gillard told a meeting of Labor MPs in Canberra today, ahead of parliament sitting tomorrow, that the ALP was the "party of work not welfarism" and that the party believed in the benefit and dignity of work.

But at least two caucus members commented on the proposed reforms, with one urging the prime minister to get the balance right for people who need welfare and don't have the option to work.

Another MP queried whether enough information was getting out to the public and underlined the need to "get out there and showcase what we are doing", according to a caucus spokesman.

Welfare groups say there's room to clamp down on middle-class welfare, but have warned the government against using reform to fund the flood recovery effort.

"The consideration of family payments shouldn't be on the table," Australian Council of Social Service CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said.

"We do not support family payments being the place to which we will go to try and raise the funds necessary for the recovery effort."

The Federal Opposition weighed into the debate, promising not to touch middle-class welfare reforms that were championed by the former Howard government.

"We are not going to take a baseball bat to families in the way that the Gillard government wants to do," opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey told ABC Radio.

St Vincent de Paul Society CEO John Falzon said significant cash, not cuts, was needed to encourage under or unemployed people back into the workforce.

"The below poverty-line unemployment benefit is a barrier to participation," he said, noting the payment had not been increased above CPI for twenty years.

With AAP

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Comments on this story

  • Cheryl of Melb Posted at 10:09 PM February 07, 2011

    HA! Needs confidence she NEEDS to get in touch with the Australian people and stop speaking to us like we are in kindergarten. Time to go Julia!!

  • Elle of Melbourne Posted at 10:09 PM February 07, 2011

    @Kate of Melbourne This is not a sarcastic question - but what actually can be found that is perfect about Julia? Her track record speaks for itself! The only reason she is in power now is due to those scary independants - not due to her 'talents' or from any democratic method of achieving the privilege of being the Prime minister. Her needing to explain to us that she is a 'determined leader' is just talk that means nothing ...as usual. so again...what do you find is so perfect about Julia?

  • Jason of Newport Posted at 10:06 PM February 07, 2011

    Kate of Melb - you are easily pleased obviously!

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