Julia Gillard has headed to Hamburg, Germany, to continue her quest for global access to education for children in 60 developing countries around the world.
Ms Gillard who is the chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a former teacher, is best positioned to lobby leaders at the G20 summit.
“Unless this G20 summit also thinks about these long term problems then our aspirations for peace, prosperity, for growth are really on shaky ground,” Ms Gillard told CNN.
“It is distressing for me to see that even in an environment where overseas aid is increasing, and in recent years it has increased, we see aid to education going backwards.”
The former prime minister hasn’t directly spoken to US President Donald Trump, but said if she had the opportunity she would stress that global education is in his best interest.
“Really it’s in America’s long term security interests to see development across Africa and indeed around the world,” she said.
“We need to make sure that people across Africa and in developing nations around the world can see a hope for the future and that hope starts by them knowing their children will get an education.”
On Trump
Ms Gillard, who faced an unprecedented level of sexism as Australia’s first female Prime Minister, was reminded by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour of her blistering attack on sexism and misogyny on the floor of parliament in 2012.
But pressed on whether she had anything to say about President Trump’s own behaviour towards women, Ms Gillard remained diplomatic.
“I think this issue of gender discrimination is alive and well around the planet I think it did play a role in the US election.”
Ms Gillard on Wednesday addressed on her Twitter account the "silly reports" which suggested she had linked US President Donald Trump’s tweeting habits to his mental health.
During a recent interview with the ABC's Lateline the former prime minister was asked about the commentary around President Trump's mental health but said it was "very difficult to judge someone else's mental health".
"Neither of us have met Donald Trump, as far as I know. I certainly haven't," she said.
"If President Trump continues with some of the tweeting, et cetera, that we have seen, that this will be in the dialogue," she added.
