Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday, in this place, I had a very insightful conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs about Australia's aid program and how it empowers women. The recurring theme of that conversation was that only when all citizens are full participants in society can a nation realise its potential. It should be plainly obvious. If a group excludes or artificially limits 50 per cent of its population from full economic participation, from participating in the national discourse and from decision making, then that society is only holding itself back.

In talking about limiting participation I need to be clear that I am not only referring to deliberate limitations, such as excluding women from educational opportunities and preventing women from voting, but also saying that the conversation needs to be broader. For example; if a couple who have children both want to work then a policy environment that creates inflexible work hours or that makes the cost of child care prohibitive becomes a limitation for that society. If a legal and social environment turns a blind eye from violence or crime against women then that becomes a limitation for the society. If the business environment does not encourage start-ups and entrepreneurs, then we are limiting opportunities for people to be self-sufficient and disempowering those who could otherwise stand on their own two feet.

The context of my exchange with the minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday was, as I said, Australia's foreign aid policy. In that conversation it emerged that in the Asia-Pacific region up to $47 billion is lost annually because of women's limited access to employment and up to $30 billion annually due to gender gaps in education.

Today, Parliamentary Secretary, I would like to bring the conversation a little closer to home—specifically, to my electorate of Solomon. In Darwin and Palmerston, the cost of child care is high and places are very limited. When child care is available, it is often only the long day care type, meaning nurses, doctors, emergency workers, some Defence personnel and other people with shift work or casual work arrangements struggle to find suitable care for their children.

Regrettably, rates of violence in the electorate of Solomon and the Northern Territory generally are also far too high. I say too high, but clearly one violent attack is one too many. In the Northern Territory, more than half of all assaults are in the family home. It goes without saying that most of the victims are indeed women. In this context, Parliamentary Secretary, I would like to put this question to you: what is the coalition government doing to support and protect women and to ensure Australia benefits from the full, unrestricted participation of all of its citizens?

See this speech in context