Women taking over Australia: Ramos Horta

East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta says women seem to have taken over Australia.
He's also glad his country doesn't have a vice president, and a female one at that.
Dr Ramos-Horta concluded his week-long tour of Australia in Sydney on Friday with a
function hosted by NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, the state's first female premier.
He noted the rise of women to the nation's top political posts and in particular the
ascension of Julia Gillard, sworn in as Australia's new prime minister on Thursday
by the nation's first female governor-general, Quentin Bryce.
"One lesson I will probably (take) from Australia going back to Timor is I'm very
pleased we don't have a vice president, and a woman vice president," Dr Ramos-Horta
joked.
"Probably I would not be president any longer.
"Women seem to have taken over in this country."
With women making up 30 per cent of East Timor's parliament, Dr Ramos-Horta wondered
if men in his country had any political future.
"I wonder what is the fate of us men a few years from now," he said.
"Some already are taking cooking lessons because they probably have to go to the
kitchen."
East Timor's president spent the day touring Sydney, meeting with NSW's female
governor, Marie Bashir, and visiting St Vincent's Hospital.
Under an agreement with the Bairo Pite Clinic in East Timor, the Sydney hospital
provides free treatment for up to 10 East Timorese patients each year.
It has concentrated on treating patients with mitral stenosis, a heart condition
characterised by the narrowing of the orifice of the mitral valve.
Dr Ramos-Horta thanked staff at the East Sydney hospital for saving the lives of
many of his people, including Manuella Soares and her unborn baby.
"We thank you very much for the generosity extended to East Timorese patients," Dr
Ramos-Horta said at the hospital.
Ms Soares, who is now 25, was the first patient to come to Australia for treatment
under the scheme three years ago.
She was four months pregnant at the time and if her condition had not been treated,
it would have been fatal.
"She would have died giving birth given the strain on her heart," St Vincent's
clinic executive director Michelle Wilson told AAP.
Ms Soares' surgery was successful and she returned to East Timor and gave birth to a
baby boy.
Dr Ramos-Horta said he hoped the scheme could continue in the future and praised the
hospital for its "exceptional" quality of treatment and management.