Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare) Share this | Hansard source

I just cannot believe that we are being asked to stand up tonight and acknowledge the government’s achievements in improving the economic position of women, because all of the statistics, all of the commentary out in the community today, and of course all of the despair and worry of women is about the fact that their economic position under this Labor government is deteriorating. The member for Ballarat began by calling our attention to the gender pay gap. This is the difference in wages paid to men and women doing the same work or work of equal value. Under Labor, since the Rudd Labor government has come into power, this pay gap has widened. It has got worse. And in the developing nations, the OECD comparators, we find ourselves almost a joke in that we have amongst the highest-paid women in the developed world, but we have the biggest gender pay gap. It is 17 per cent on average today. Women are only paid 83 per cent of the same wages that men receive for work of equal or comparable value. The finance and insurance industry pay gap is on average 31.9 per cent, the pay gap for female CFOs and CEOs is about 50 per cent, and getting worse. Women are only about 8.3 per cent of board directorships; two per cent of CEO roles and 10.7 per cent of senior executive positions are held by women, and under Labor it has got worse! Our government boards reflect their total failure to address an area of board position appointments under their control. Board positions under Labor are more likely to be male. I just find it extraordinary that the Making it fair report, with more than 60 recommendations to improve this situation, still languishes on the minister’s desk gathering dust.

And then we move to paid parental leave. Yes, it is essential for women. The scheme introduced by Labor is a disgrace. That is why, when we come into power, we will change it and deliver to women a replacement salary or minimum wage, whichever is the highest, and superannuation. As the member for Ballarat said, women are absolutely discriminated against in the workforce with their come-and-go career breaks because they are the major carers in our society, and did Labor put superannuation into their Paid Parental Leave scheme? No, they did not—in other words, they are perpetuating the problem of superannuation continuity for working women. How can they stand up and ask us to celebrate that fact?

I have to say that I am ashamed every time I think about how this government is representing women today. Yes, 73 per cent of single age pensioners are women, and that is not going to change as long as we have Labor perpetuating the problems for working women. Women in work need child care, very often women between the ages of 20 and 40. What has this government done to child care? Let us look at it: they have cut the childcare rebate from $7,778 to $7,500. They said it is only about rich parents. No, it is not; it is about parents who have at least a baby or toddler in care four or five days a week paying the average childcare fees. They hit that cap very quickly, and this government has made child care less affordable. It has introduced a national quality framework, along with COAG, which we know will increase costs of child care up to $22 per week. This government does not care; it slashed childcare rebates.

It has also made it very hard for rural and remote women to survive and get child care. If you are in Western Australia in the wheat belt, particularly if you are from the towns of Darkan, Dalwallinu, Cunderdin or Corrigin, forget it! Those towns do have child care right now, but unfortunately their child care does not have the sort of demand for 48 weeks a year, eight hours a day, Monday to Friday. They are part-time centres, but they are excellent centres and they make it possible for women to work in those small rural wheat belt towns in Western Australia. They are also places that give their children a break from the social isolation they often experience in such small communities. What has this government done? The minister, Kate Ellis, has said: ‘Look, we’re not so sure about you. We’re not going to give you ongoing registration as a childcare centre. We’ll give you six months if you’re lucky.’ How can you employ paid professional staff on that basis? And you cannot go instead and set up a family day care centre because Labor slashed the $1,500 start-up payment in this budget. In particular, it has also slashed the remote area family day care start payment of $5,000. That starts in July. Family day care is an extraordinarily valuable service for families. No more start-ups for them and, unfortunately, that particular service, family day care, was also where a lot of women started their small business careers—working from home with their own children, being able to provide professional child care. This government does not care. It has slashed, done away with, those day care start-up payments. I have to say in relation to Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, there is no money for them either. (Time expired)

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