Julie Bishop was the foreign minister, the only woman in Australia’s government cabinet in 2013. That had apparently gone past the First Lady of the United States: According to Bishop Melania Trump held at a meeting Bishop’s male escort for a politician and invited the then Foreign Minister for a „ladies‘ lunch“ for female partners. That said Bishop now according to the transmitter ABC.
The meeting took place at a UN event in 2017 in New York. When US President Donald Trump joined Bishop’s partner David Patton in a conversation, Melania Trump asked her, „Julie, are you coming to my ladies‘ lunch tomorrow?“
At that time, Bishop replied that her partner was going to have lunch with traveling partners. The First Lady had been thinking about it for a long time, until Donald Trump told her that Bishop was the Foreign Minister.
Bishop was the first woman at the head of the Australian State Department from 2013 to 2018. According to the report, she found it disturbing at the time to be the only woman in the Cabinet of Government, „That’s not alright, it’s not completely normal,“ she thought.
Bishop has long been committed to more women in top political positions. Since the demise of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year, Bishop has repeatedly criticized the dealings with high-ranking women politicians.
