In 2012, Julia Gillard gave a speech that sent shockwaves around the world as our first female Prime Minister thundered across the Despatch Box: “I will not”.

Over a decade later, one of Australia’s most esteemed playwrights, Joanna Murray-Smith, tells the human story behind the extraordinary speech in a stirring and inspiring re-examination of that moment and a revelatory portrait of the woman who made it happen.

Directed by Helpmann Award-winner Sarah Goodes, Julia is a critical and box office triumph, dazzling audiences across the country with its profound, wry and intoxicating exploration of gender, privilege and power.

The phenomenal Justine Clarke delivers a “heroic performance” (The Sydney Morning Herald) that takes us through key moments in Prime Minister Gillard’s life — from her childhood through to her foray into and across the battlefield of Australian politics — culminating in an “electrifying” (The Guardian) verbatim performance of the ‘misogyny speech’.

As women around the world continue to fight against oppression, Julia is a provocative rallying cry that is not to be missed.

Julia
15-30 August 2025
Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane
www.queenslandtheatre.com.au

Julia tells the story of the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even about women.

Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child’s surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.

Julia will be released in Australian cinemas November 4!
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