By political reporter Francis Keany.
Peta Credlin, the chief of staff to former prime minister Tony Abbott, says she has no intention of entering politics, while urging women to take on more leadership roles.
Ms Credlin has spoken out for the first time since Mr Abbott lost the prime ministership to Malcolm Turnbull in last week’s Liberal leadership spill.
She told the Women of the Future Awards in Sydney she would “sleep well at night” for her role in elevating Mr Abbott to the top job in 2013, but is looking forward to the next chapter of her life.
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“People say to me ‘You’re really lucky to have the best job in the country’, and I was like, ‘There’s no luck involved, I worked my guts out for six years to go from Opposition to Government’,” she said.
“5:00am in the morning, really late nights, huge pressure, and it’s relentless.
“You’ve got to own what you are and you’ve got to own what you do and no-one can take that away from me.”
Ms Credlin also took a swipe at her critics, both inside and outside the Liberal Party.
“I refuse to be defined by insider gossip from unnamed sources where no-one has the guts to put their name to it,” she said.
“And if you’re a cabinet minister or a journalist and you’re intimidated by the chief of staff to the prime minister, maybe you don’t deserve your job.”
Ms Credlin told the event at the Art Gallery of New South Wales her gender played a significant part in the public’s perception of her role.
“If I was a guy I wouldn’t be bossy, I’d be strong,” she said.
“If I was a guy I wouldn’t be a micromanager, I’d be across my brief, or across the detail.
“If I wasn’t strong, determined, controlling, and got them into government from opposition, then I would be weak and not up to it and should have to go and could be replaced.
"So, it's very binary when it comes to women."
She has also urged businesses and governments to do more to address the gender gap.
"You want women in places where they can make a difference, because half the policy in this country is for us, but only about a tenth of it is by us," she said.
"And if we do not stand up and put women in the epicentre of decision-making, whether it's boardrooms, government boards, politics, cabinet rooms, wherever, if you don't have women there, we will not exist."
Ms Credlin, whose husband is the federal director of the Liberal Party Brian Loughnane, said she would not be seeking a position in Parliament, despite ongoing speculation about her ambitions.
"I am not going to run for politics. It's been said about me for 16 years. I'm not," she said.
"I want to move on with my life and do something where I get my own voice."
Ms Credlin was adamant she did not seek public attention but instead wanted to work behind the scenes.
"It didn't turn out that well," she said.
The former prime minister's chief of staff has also promised not to undermine Mr Turnbull, who has now moved in to the Prime Ministerial offices at Parliament House in Canberra.
"I'm not going to be one of those people who go out and kick the Liberal party or kick the new Prime Minister on my way out," she said.
"I think that's undignified, and I've never been like that, which is why I find stuff written about me in stark contrast to who I am.
"But I can sleep well at night, knowing that I did my best and I'm looking forward to my next chapter, whatever that is."
This post originally appeared on the ABC and was republished here with full permission.
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