It's tough being me, Australian PM tells Obama

Australia's prime minister joked to Barack Obama that being an African-American leader was less of an obstacle than being a "childless, single, atheist woman".

Julia Gillard, the country's first female leader, reportedly told a private fund-raiser that she had joked to her "good mate" Mr Obama: "You think it's tough being African-American? Try being me. Try being an atheist, childless, single woman as prime minister."

Miss Gillard's comparison appears to be borne out by her dire approval ratings, which are far worse than those of Mr Obama. A poll yesterday showed support for Miss Gillard's ruling Labor Party has dropped to near record lows.

The poll, in Fairfax newspapers, showed Labor's primary vote had slumped to 27 per cent. Miss Gillard's disapproval rating was 59 per cent and her approval rating was 36 per cent.

President Obama's disapproval rating is 47 per cent and his approval rating is 48 per cent, according to the latest aggregated poll by RealClearPolitics.

Miss Gillard, 50, was the country's first prime minister to take an affirmation of office instead of swearing on the Bible and the first to share the official residence with a common-law partner, Tim Mathieson, often referred to as the First Bloke.

A Labor frontbencher, Chris Evans, said that Miss Gillard's comment was made in jest. "A little light humour was used to compare her challenges with those of President Obama," he said.