he'd brought his own," eventually creating "something of a scene" which attracted the attention of Labor politician Clyde Cameron, who said that he didn't realise such sexual discrimination still existed. Gaudron said that "the discrimination being practised in that particular hotel was nothing compared to the discrimination over which he would undoubtedly preside when he became Minister for Industrial Relations after the next election." However, the Whitlam government was elected on 2 December, and Cameron duly became Minister for Industrial Relations. Whitlam called Gaudron on 3 December to hire her to argue the case for equal pay. The case, begun by the Australian Council of Trade Unions and supported by the Whitlam government, extended the reach of the original but limited equal pay decision of 1969. Prior decisions had guaranteed equal pay only for certain specific occupations and later, certain limited industries (industries traditionally considered 'women's work', such as the textile industry), whereas this case extended the principle of equal pay to all workers. Gaudron's argument was based on the principles of the 1951 Equal Remuneration Convention of the International Labour Organization (an organisation she would later work for). However, Gaudron later came to regard her argument, that Australia had not ratified the Convention because the commission would not grant equal pay (thus preventing Australia from fulfilling its obligations under the convention), as somewhat disingenuous, and recalled it with a measure of embarrassment. Conciliation and Arbitration Commission In April 1974, Gaudron was appointed to the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission as Deputy President, becoming the youngest ever federal judge. It was rumoured that Cameron had advocated in Cabinet for her appointment, first by emphasising her outstanding academic record, then by noting her humble working-class background, to which Whitlam supposedly said, "Next you'll be telling us she was born in a bloody manger!" Gaudron's most notable case on the Arbitration Commission was an important test case for maternity leave in 1979, which laid down award standards allowing for a year's unpaid leave for all full-time and permanent part-time workers. In 1979–1980, Gaudron was the inaugural chair of the NSW Legal Services Commission. Gaudron held the position of Deputy President until her resignation in May 1980. Lecturer, QC and Solicitor-General Gaudron lectured at the University of New South Wales' law school for a brief time, then in February 1981 she was appointed the Solicitor-General of New South Wales, the first female Solicitor-General in