Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It seems ironic, doesn't it, that, in the 21st century, we need to have an International Women's Day to emphasise the fact that, despite it being the 21st century, we still have more women and girls being the victims of violence, particularly of the global violence of terrorism, which is now at its worst in international history. In Australia, we still have a 17 per cent difference in wages for the same work undertaken by men and women, and that pay gap is increasing, which seems incredible in a country such as ours. Of course, we as a nation are distressed and disgusted by the gender based violence, the intimate-partner violence, which is at such a level in Australia where there are so many women who fear for their lives and their children's lives every day.

I am very proud and pleased to say that, just today, we had the launch of Promoting opportunities for all: gender equality and women’s empowerment by our fantastic Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. This is a strategy which goes with our commitment that 80 per cent of our foreign aid annually will be directed towards the empowerment of women and girls in our region. When we say 'empowerment' we mean the reduction of poverty, particularly as it impacts on women and girls. We want to ensure that it is not women and girls who are least likely to have nutritional benefits in the household.

We have a region where we have the irony, again, of both obesity and stunting having an impact on a lot of our women and girls, and the children in our communities. I am proud to say that we are currently, in the Foreign Affairs and Aid Subcommittee, doing an inquiry into how Australia can better support the nutritional advances of the 21st century. In the Asia-Pacific, women and girls have always been particularly engaged in horticulture and agriculture and in providing food for their households, but, at this time, it is more likely that women and girls are either stunted or suffering from non-communicable diseases associated with obesity.

Let me also say that I am proud of the fact that Australia is pursuing a place on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. I believe we would make a major contribution to the commission, given our human rights record in this country. We were one of the first nations to ensure that there were absolutely no laws written into our governance, both state and federally, that allowed discrimination in any shape or form. It is against the law in Australia for women or girls to be discriminated against based on their gender. It is so important that we acknowledge that.

Of course, in our region we also acknowledge that Indigenous peoples often suffer, and that it is women of Indigenous groups who too often bear the brunt of discrimination, of poverty, of being captured into the sex trade or of their children being forced into labour without proper payment. In our region, we would like to say that the reproductive health rights of women and girls, particularly our women, are improving. We have certainly brought down instances of maternal deaths—that is a very good thing—through some of our superbly functioning NGOs in Australia. I mention Marie Stopes International Australia as one of those.

We are trying to make sure that we do not have a situation where women are not in control of the size of their families or the spacing of their families so that, instead, they can have healthy births and healthy children, who can be properly sustained and cared for according to their family's means. As a nation, Australia champions reproductive rights. I am also proud that our nation is one of the first to address issues like female genital mutilation. It is concerning that, in Indonesia, there appears to be an increase in some of these practices.

I am a very proud Australian woman who knows that gender equality and women's empowerment is central to the focus of this government and to the focus of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. I commend this motion to the House.

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