This was published 13 years ago
More and more, it's a woman's world
By Harold Mitchell
OUR long-time insider on women's affairs, Louise, has always told us that her tribe would take over the world one day, starting with The Lodge in Canberra.
And it all seemed on track, until there was a bit of a hiccup 10 days ago when Charlie went to yet another political fund-raising dinner. I refused to attend. All the ones I've been to have started with the same old leek soup. By the way, they're giving us plastic knives now, just like you get on planes.
But it's all much more interesting than it was two weeks ago. Both parties are lifting their advertising spend - more than $20 million so far and heading towards the $40 million last time round. Each party is claiming underdog status of course. I'm not sure how clever this is for Labor. Charlie says you have to be careful what you wish for - you just might get it.
Research from the clever people at Boston Consulting Group is on the money. Their recent female survey found that 44 per cent of women define a ''real woman'' as someone who can ''do it all''. So Prime Minister Julia Gillard would seem to be on track with that one. Being a good family maker at home came in second with 33 per cent.
And this is interesting - 46 per cent of women say that a beautiful house is the ultimate status symbol. A successful husband or boyfriend came second with 29 per cent. Charlie has called for a recount.
Other questions related to romance, which doesn't seem to rate very well.
But women are all-powerful. The Boston research shows us that the vast majority of new income growth over the next 10 years will come from women and that women control or substantially influence 65 per cent of the world's annual consumer spending.
Not to be outdone, the online portal Ask Men recently partnered research company Ipsos in a survey of Australian men. The result challenged the cliches of Australian men being simple, poorly dressed, beer-drinking creatures. Fifty-five per cent of men think whisky - not beer - is the proper drink for a man. And most Australian men own a suit, with 13 per cent owning more than three. Blimey.
Far from being afraid of commitment, two-thirds of men believe in marriage and intend to get married, and two-thirds cook at home, claiming to enjoy it. But the bad news is that hardly any men, and I suspect women, think the ability to speak Mandarin makes someone a worthy political leader.
Tony Abbott has twigged to the power of women and has engaged She Marketing, a specialist marketing agency, to improve his marketability to women.
Nevertheless, I still think Bill Clinton picked it all those years ago: ''It's the economy, stupid."
Putting aside the power of women, Charlie went to an outstanding lecture this week by Jonathan Mills, the Australian-born director of the Edinburgh Arts Festival, who came back to deliver the inaugural State of the Arts lecture.
Mills said we seemed to be reverting to a "one-size-fits-all" corporatised mindset, which greatly limits our potential. I think he was trying to say that our politicians need to lift themselves to a higher level to keep our economy rolling and our society open and fair.
He said government must be more aware of its own potential and insist on a greater level of ingenuity and entrepreneurship in all our institutions. Charlie, Louise and the worm all agree as we march on to August 21.
Harold Mitchell is executive chairman of Mitchell Communication Group.