Abbott says Gillard's misogyny speech an 'unjustified attack'

Tony Abbott has described Julia Gillard's seething misogyny speech as "pretty over the top", conceding he did not expect it to become the "iconic moment" it has.

Speaking to ABC iview's I Was Actually There, Mr Abbott said he had known Ms Gillard for a long time before the speech and regarded her as a "formidable politician", with the pair sharing mutual respect for one another.

But he acknowledged that respect was "fraying" ahead of the now-historic moment 14 years ago.

"Given that, I say, I am not conscious of ever treating women differently simply by virtue of them being women, I certainly am not conscious of ever having treated women in a lesser way."

"I thought when Julia started that speech, she really is going over the top."

"I felt calm in the moment. And I felt the reaction to it showed that I was dominating that environment."

Of the speech, Mr Abbott said he thought most of Ms Gillard's accusations against him were "over the top".

"Gillard trotted out a whole lot of things where I was regarded as having acted in, I guess, an old-fashioned, ham-fisted, insensitive way," he said.

"But again, I think most of those accusations were either over the top or slightly unfair."

Ms Gillard said she knew she was going to be targeted in parliament that day over a controversy embroiling Labor's hand-picked speaker, Peter Slipper.

While Ms Gillard said the speech was delivered off the cuff, she had asked her team to compile a list of Mr Abbott's "most sexist quotes" for her to refer to.

"What was completely ironic about this attack, is Tony Abbott was almost, you know, rent-a-gaffe about sexism issues," she told I Was Actually There.

"It's almost like a game of cards, 'I'll not only see you, I'll raise you because you definitely said this'."

Ms Gillard rose to her feet that day in response to a motion from Mr Abbott accusing the government of sexism and misogyny because of its decision to install, and later not remove, the Speaker of the House, Peter Slipper.

Slipper, a Liberal MP, had been convinced to take up the role to help Labor maintain its own numbers in the House of Representatives, given it was already a minority government.

There were calls for Labor to remove him from his position after he was accused of sexual harassment by his former staffer James Ashby.

It was also revealed that slipper sent a number of highly offensive and sexist text messages to Ashby about female genitalia.

Despite this, Ms Gillard and the government refused to remove him from his role — prompting criticisms of double standards when it came to sexism.

"She was putting into practice the old doctrine that attack is the best form of defence."

"I did have this sense of unfairness, resentment, anger, that having lived through so many gendered critiques … that now I was going to be the one who was skewered on the sexism critique."

"Obviously, the prime minister had made what was a highly theatrical, politically powerful piece of drama," Mr Abbott said.

"But the fact that by the end of the day the Speaker had resigned, I thought was a complete vindication of everything that I'd said in the parliament."

Mr Abbott also described a comment he made just before the speech that the Labor government should "already have died of shame" as "a bit of a niggle".

The quote was a repeat of controversial remarks made by radio host Alan Jones in the wake of the death of Ms Gillard's father.

"I thought the government had let itself down badly … so I think it was reasonable of me to say that it was a government that should be a little bit ashamed of itself."

"I remember hearing those lines and being amazed. I would say I felt a kind of cool anger."

It was those words that spurred Gillard to respond.

"She was playing the sexism card, which to her credit, Gillard had up until that time, almost never done."

"And curiously, this day, which was really about skewering me on sexism, gave me the moment."

At the time, the press gallery's reaction to the speech was similar to Mr Abbott's; that Ms Gillard had attempted to redirect criticism of her and her government's handling of the Slipper affair.

But as the speech travelled around the world, it soon became clear it had struck a different nerve.

While Mr Abbott didn't realise what the speech would become, he acknowledges the life it's taken on since.

"It was an effective parliamentary tactic on the day, but I had no real reason to think that it would become some iconic feminist moment," he said.

As for Ms Gillard, the speech is still raised with her often, both at home and abroad.

But unlike the millions of viewers online, she revealed she has never watched the speech back.

"I've always wanted my memories of that day not to be coloured in by watching the film of it, the video," she said.

"I wanted to just feel it and remember it the way it was. That's my memory and I want it to stay that way."

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