Oh pleeeeze no more stupid bloody spin. It would have been better if McTiernan had her at a spinning wheel. Knitting a kangaroo for the royal baby, I have heard it all now Julia, the Real Julia, the Tough Julia, the feisty Julia, the picked on Julia, now for god's sake Grandma Julia.

When she's not busy railing against men and hurling personal abuse at Abbott in Question Time, she has time to have yet another Women's Weekly photo-shoot of her knitting like a good little housewife. When does she actually have time to do her job?

Just breath-takingly surreal...how many personalities is this PM going to morph into leading up to the election? The Australian public still doesn't know this woman.

Gee, we see so many different Julias! Is this now the real Julia?

Definately not Patons bluebell.

Ms Gillard is a fraud,she has now become pathetic.

Tony Abbott's hobbies? Volunteer firefighting, volunteer surf-lifesaving, volunteer charity work with Aboriginal communities, surfing, long-distance cycling and competing in iron man triathlons. Julia Gillard's hobbies?... er, knitting.

Complete & utter rubbish from the labour spin machine. Just how stupid do they think Australians are?

Heavens, what's next. Tim out washing the ministerial car. Mowing the lawn at Kirribilli. I am watching this charade whilst on holidays in France. Let me tell I don't know whether to go home due to the embarrassment when the French ask me what is going on, or to stay and tough it out until after the election. Does anybody there have their hands on the economic levers?

Oh.....dear.....

Im sorry I cant help it the similarity in metaphor is just too much. Didn't Dicken's Madame Defarge knit whilst important people all around her lost their heads. The backbenchers be warned.

Good to see the PM is multi talented, cause after Sep14 she will have more time on her hands to knit. This article will do nothing to make me want to vote for a dysfunctional party.

Oh Give me a break - is this another new Julia? If they aren't talking about themselves, they are abbottabbottabbotting, or being wymmin for wymmin - Let this embarrassment end!

Ohh she is soo cringe worthy. Can we please have an adult in charge. This is beyond parody!

Yet another 'real' Julia.

Correct McTernan It was a no-brainer! No thinking more like it. With the PM trashing the office and only days to an election where the Labor Party will be swept from government why, oh why would you think that a photo shoot of this nature would turn people back on to her? Perhaps next she can knit a scabbard.

Is this an attempt by the Labor Party to portray the real Julia (version 4.6)? Does she even know what end of a knitting needle from the other? Sad...you cannot believe a single thing about this woman anymore.

Julia knits while Australia burns.

Now I have heard everything. Julia knitting, the mind boggles. The proposition is so absurd I almost have to believe it.

Gillard certainly doesn't care about women. What about the vast majority of, so-called, "Non-VR" GPs? They are women!! The plight of the (so-called) "Non-VR" GP: * Exact same work * Exact same standard of medical care * Exact same medical qualifications * Exact same patient responsibility HALF the Medicare rebates... Now that's sickening.

Germaine Greer's comments did at least get rid of "those jackets" Gillard missed another opportunity, where's Reuben's knitted coat?

Rome burns and Nero fiddles, the state of the nation is more important than this.

Fiddling while Rome burns??? When is she going to start leading the country?

I hope the Women's Weekly editors are preparing a suitable counter spread on Tony Abbott with his family surrounding him, plus Maisie the dog!!

I would much rather a sensible front page than a piece of 'fluff'. Such a posed and silly picture. She needs far better advice from her spin doctor, and a modicum of common sense. Please provide sensible and serious reporting.

I bet she ends up knitting a camel.

Funny how the PM can use the term 'catty' but heaven help the bloke in parliament who said meow in response to Wong.

yes, what a yarn! Does this unelected PM really think us Australian Women really believe her faux knitting will warm us - definitely not - and wouldn't buy the Womens Weekly with this article appearing - PM is not for the interests of Australians - she is purely for own self interests and knitting pose is a joke

A hairdo with flicks- how appropriate and timely - the most suitable hairdo for Gillard when Australians give her the Big Flick come 14th September. Australians would do better to donate their $7.00 to their favourite charity rather than pay for this phony propaganda piece. Gillard demeans herself everyday - blue ties now silly Miss Marple knitting pics. Nobody falling for Gillard line or pics.

You have got to be kidding me - What is this supposed to show - that she can do something that is actually worthwhile - knitting a jumper. Give me a break will you

Gillard knits while labor burns. Are there any woman in the real world who dress up and wear their pointy toed stiletto's to do a few rows of plan and pearl? Bring on the ugg boots.

She'll be knitting lots of roos after 14 September. Having said that, Kate and William will wonder if JG is a better than knitter than PM. My theory is that she is, hands down. So, fear not, Kate, the baby is safe with its Gillard roo toy.

Oh my it's the new real Julia, the softer feminine one. Will the spin never end.

Not much anyone can say really . If this is how Australia perceives the future for it's children , being lied to , and deceived by their own Prime Minister, then Australia needs to hang it's head in shame .....if they can be bothered.

Difficult to say who is the biggest poser, Gillard or Rudd

And she expects no comments to be made about her being a woman and yet she does a fluff piece for the women's weekly. Come on Julia, you're either a strong feisty feminist or someone we can relate to but you can't have it both ways

Can't imagine any other PM being photographed this way - but in the meantime don't focus on Gillard's gender OK?

Are you crazy? Who on earth put the Prime Minister in this position - knitting away... This just looks absurd. God please can we have an election now to end this ongoing embarrassment.

How ironic that a PM who suffers from a reputation of putting spin over substance should now use an obviously contrived scenario in a staged photograph to promote her sincerity!

Do us all a favour. This is just cringeworthy. If she is in fact knitting a toy kangaroo then she could just do it and not try to get media mileage. She just can't comprehend that she has made a laughing stock of the office of P.M and herself. These clumsy attempts at media spin just cement the electorates dislike of her

This just exemplifies that Gillard has no idea what she stands for. After her heavily scripted abortion/blue tie anti-man rant last week; she now plonks herself into a 50s housewife pose. This displays that she is merely as smart as the last person she spoke to. It is embarrasing and undignified for a national leader...male or female!

What a joke! Vote for the Gillard government because she can knit! What planet does McTernan think Australia is on? Mars? The soap opera just gets worse.

This is just the problem. She will " portray "anything as long as she gets the votes. This picture makes me cringe. I don't want Miss Doubtfire in the top job. I want a statesmanship figure ( male or female who cares ) that does not divide the country with a gender war and puts a wedge between our women and men. I am so glad this has backfired.

Only five hours and six assistants for this "genuine" homespun photo. About as realistic and wasteful as anything she does.

Now which Julia is this? With all those balls of wool and needles, it looks like a very colourful and interesting 'roo is on the way, but will she have time to finish it before 14 September?

!?!?! JG looks after her balls of wool, like she manages this government! All over the place! This picture makes me want to vomit. She doesn't walk the talk and I'm utterly tired of spin. BUT... I'm willing to watch the merry-go-round for entertainment purposes; it's better than Foxtel. The only pity is this is the nations leader. I hope she, and her minions, go down with this ship. A generational hiatus is what this party needs.

The real who? How many real Julias are there? No wonder voters have stopped listening.Desparation. As for McTernan - he should come forward and claim repsonsibilty for a lot of Gillard's failures

I nearly threw up in my Wheeties when I saw the stage managed photo in the paper this morning. The "glam" of hair blowing in the breeze contradicts the homely props. The photograph is as honest as Julia's reputation for honesty.

Ms Gillard's contribution to Australia: knit one, purl one, shaft two?

What a beautifully posed photo. All that multi-coloured wool lying around and all those knitting needles - about as false as the subject

Don't be surprised if your paper sales are down today!

She may be a republican but when you're as desperate as Julia is for votes, you simply can't ignore the opportunity to get a few royalists to vote Labor. Pretty pathetic really.

Mc Ternan says a "no-brainer". A bit like the PM's other publicity stunts originating from the press office? No brainer in the sense that it wasn't thought through?

"slightly absurd"? Understatement of the century.

The dog doesn't look amused.

"a different" side to Julia? Nice try but I think you'll find the voters don't like any side of her personality. We haven't liked any we've seen so far. This one included.

"not a person who agonises" Does that mean she has no remorse for what she's done to Australians.

This is just an attempt to soften her image. Good luck with that Julia.

Oh, no! This is just another aspect of the gender game muddied into an 'l love royals' message: me as the ordinary conservative, prepared to squabble over the back fence, to chat about babies and the colour of the queen's dress. It is the Dame Edna cliche. Does she take us for fools?

Not the REAL Julia?? Shock horror!

Well, I can't see much Kangaroo there, so she had better hurry up! The Royal baby is due in a few weeks, right?

Oh dear,what next? Who is advising her? This is certain to backfire especially for the Women's Weekly. Julia Gillard has tried every ploy possible to win votes, especially those of the young and inexperienced or the older "handbag brigade". Whilst this bitter battle for leadership continues, Australia sinks further into debt,businesses close and the boats keep coming adding more of a drain to taxpayers and the nation as a whole. The picture of Granny Gillard really is the last gasp. Shades of Madam Dafarge knitting in front of the guillotine. Please can we "move forward" to concentrate on our failing economy.An early election would be a good move. Perhaps Gillard can visit the GG to call an early election rather than cede to Rudd.

"I can't imagine Laurie Oakes saying 'hmmm, knitting patterns ...'," Surely this is a sexist comment! So Julia knits! So what! Give me a break. I don't want to know. There are more important serious issues facing this nation, most of them brought on by Gillard/Rudd and the Labor Party. Perhaps she should turn her knitting needles to the single mums she has sent into poverty by knitting blankets to keep them and their children warm this winter. Bring on an election and let me have my chance to throw this lot out with the garbage.

So THIS is the 'real' Julia then?

Just when you think Julia can't get more phony than her past history, she always manages to sink lower and lower. Face it, Julia, the warm and homey act won't work any better than your previous inept attempts to curry favor with women. Odd how much they dislike you, isn't it?

Believe me, any woman worth her salt, sits in front of a heater or fire in her oldest and most comfortable dressing gown knitting away happily with the tele on in the background. She does NOT sit fully dressed surrounded by wool (and dog) with a fan making sure her hair is blowing back. If they did that shot in her oldest and most loved dressing grown it would struck a cord with some, for most females it will bring a laugh.

This pose and the "candid interview" seem incongruous. The majority of Australians will not associate Gillard with schools and hospitals, only school halls, illegal immigrants and a carbon tax. It's a bit rich describing Greer as "catty" "stupid" for an unecessary but amusing observation considering her vicious attacks on Tony.

Madame DeFarge comes to mind. Overseeing the destruction of a ruling class. The Labour party deserves better ?

Ms Gillard took five hours out of her schedule on May 25 to pose for the photograph at a studio in Alexandria. Six prime ministerial staffers, including personal stylists and make-up artists, accompanied Ms Gillard to the shoot. The PM brought several changes of outfit but ended up choosing clothes selected by Women's Weekly. "I think I can explain (why I'm doing it)," Ms Gillard tells the Weekly about posing for the photograph. "If there is something I hope that I've done for the image of women in public life is that we can go into an adversarial environment like parliament and we can dominate it and make it our own, and we can conquer it." Despite being an avowed republican, Gillard said she was happy to knit a royal baby's gift. "I just thought it would be cute," she told the Weekly. "A cute project to work on." During the actual photographic session, Ms Gillard seemed to have second thoughts. As she took her place in the armchair and took up the knitting needles, the Prime Minister told staffers: "This feels slightly absurd."

I'm afraid if Ms Gillard thinks sitting and knitting a cuddly kangaroo for the Royal Baby will make me vote for her, then all I can say is "tell her she's dreaming"! She looks about as much domesticated as I would look Prime Ministerial!

As if all those photo opportunities in schools, surrounded by children, weren't bad enough. This is ridiculous! Demeaning to all concerned. Gillard included.

Aaaaaahhhhhhh! How sweet! And look at all those knitting needles. And the dog. Does this photo make anyone else feel sick?

I'm with you all the way PM Gillard!! ...with your knitting that is!!!!

I am so sick of Gillard's spin. One minute she is the 'feisty modern woman' the next my Aunt Bethel. How many of her 'Hard Working Australians' would have time to spend 5 hours doing a photo shoot in Sydney along with all of her entourage of hairdressers, wardrobe, kicking coach..... How much did this cartoon cost the taxpayer? Roll on September!!

Four pages of sycophantic drivel in The Telegraph on Flouro Man and adoring family, one sneering column in the Oz on our Prime Minister. Clive Palmer at least got that bit right - a promise to the schoolyard bully to do whatever it takes to instal him in the Lodge. I wonder what the return promise was - total control of our media instead of just a miserly 75%?

Is there no end to what this woman will do, she will do anything to win an election except resign

A contrived, carefully choreographed photo shoot designed to appeal to mothers, grand-mothers, monarchists, wool growers and dog lovers. Is this the real Julia? Or is this another stage managed event the PM’s minders have dreamt up following a marathon focus group session?

Of course the PM's office needs a 457 visa-holder on the staff. How else could you recruit an adviser who believes Australian women are captivated by a knitted kangaroo.

What a lot of rubbish. This posed knitting scene represents the failure that this PM really is and that everything is confected to create an image that just doesn't make a reality.Gillard keeps pounding away about her "education revolution" but her misuse of grammar shows she is off the mark."Dad was incredibly proud of ME ( should be MY ) becoming Prime Minister, and incredibly proud, I think, that it was HIM THAT ( should be HE WHO )sparked the interest in values, politics, current affairs, and particularly education,". It is too late for this PM to teach the voters anything new as we are not listening.Roll on September 14.

Just sad.

What was the 457 visa advisor thinking ??? great if she can knit - but - we need proper policies and a government that is unified and governing the country , and not more spin.

Maybe she could follow up with some booties for Billy Shorten's new offspring.

457 McTernan's phoney homey spin is proof of his boss trying to pull the wool over the voters' eyes. Embarrassing, cringeworthy and epic fail.

The tricoteuse. Women who sat near the guillotine knitting, while the reign of terror went on.

Madme Defage anyone ?

So leading by example Julia, Indonesia and now knitting, if there is a crisis that needs one's attention at work, I will just drop everthing and go for a holiday or a game of golf and leave it to someone else with the my organisation to deal with it, this way there is no accountability and responsibility on my part for any wrong decissions made whilst I was away Julia you had 3 yeeears to this, it is obviouse why now

Gillard knits while the economy burns .

What a charming setting! No monarchist could resist this lovely scene - even Tony might change his vote after this one. Hope that Tim will pick up all the wool lying everywhere before the dog gets at it. The little royal bub will be blown away by this gesture!

OMG We've had the photo shoots with children clad in Gonski uniforms. We've had the photo shoots with adoring very young children. We've had the rent-a-crowd of young females, nodding and clapping in unison, during a Gillard sexist speech. We've has the photo shoots of Gillard with people with a disability. Now we have this very plastic photo of Gillard, in her best clothes, hair blowing in the breeze, knitting a toy for the royal baby. If the photo had been taken during an ordinary evening at home, it might have had some traction. To say this is at the bottom of the pit where attempting, again, to use her gender, whilst complaining it's used against her, is quite simply nauseating. Presumably, as the tough, feisty, Julia handle hasn't worked, we'll now be fed the soft, female BS. Give me strength. What will tomorrow's thought bubble display? Gillard doing the ironing, while Tim is doing the dishes. A 5 hour photo shoot is clearly very high on the list of what needs doing. Meanwhile, chaos reigns. This is about as pathetic as it could possibly become. Time the advisors were sacked.

Nice photo. That's a talented photographer. Does he/she work under contract? Freelance? Run a small business? If any of those, he/she is much worse off thanks to Labor's IR policies.

Looking at that photo, I see a messy floor, cluttered with balls of wool, knitting needles in a glass? container, Reuben placed in his bed too close to Julia and said needles. A woman overdressed for the part, sitting knitting. I see the inherent dangers for Reuben, with the balls of wool, the container and the sharp needles! Dogs are curious and playful, they also are unaware of the dangers of aforementioned items! The scene is "messy and cluttered", neither relaxed, informal or warming to the viewer! As for endearing me to the Prime Minister, nup! I am embarassed and I reckon one of the corgi's will enjoy the knitted roo!

This is just embarassing

Here we go playing the gender card again! This stage-managed piece of puffery shows how low the PM will go to pick up a vote. She is supposed to be running the country!

How many women knit while wearing high heels, i thought knitting was a relaxing past time, not a chore

Imagine the fuss if this was about Tony A doing what he enjoys ie cycling or swimming, or John H in his shed or watching cricket...What a load of nonsense. At least she will have plenty of time for knitting post September 14th...

Thank goodness I don't have a subscription to the woman's weekly otherwise I would be returning this copy and asking for my money back. Think I will donate my $6.95 to charity.

False, contrived, non-genuine and totally bereft of feeling. It could be a photoshopped shot of McTearnan in a kilt

Julia should have "stuck to the knitting" and stayed in the union movement.

The mob in French Revolutionary times was characterised by women knitting while the heads fell off. Gillard must be preparing for Election Day. She has already spilt political blood - Rudd, Crean ........now she is preparing for scores of them. Oh dear.

I wonder if this knitting project has been subject to cost analysis, if it will finish on time and will be within budget, or if it will be obselete before completion.