As we’re coming up to the Chinese New Year of the Rooster I’ve named my three new hens after former Australian Prime Ministers: Fisher, Curtin and Chifley. Not to help the hens forge new gender identities (I’d miss the eggs) but to inspire them to enter politics. It’s time for species equality in politics and hens are ideal Prime Minister material – focused, conscientious and productive, in touch with the grass roots and possessing all the qualities needed for success in the Year of the Rooster.