Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have been very lucky my entire life to be surrounded by women who perfectly encapsulate the spirit of International Women's Day. With my mum and my sister, Lyn, and more recently over the past 27 years of marriage, I have been greatly blessed to have the unceasing love and support of my wife, Leonie, and our four strong, bold, independent young girls. It is fair to say that I have learnt a lot about the strength, tenacity and courage of women as we have faced challenges together as a family. Above all, I have learnt to treat all women as unique individuals who are working hard to build a better future for themselves.

Women outnumber men in my electorate of Fisher by as much as five per cent. In Sippy Downs, there are only 83 men for every 100 women. My community cannot underestimate the importance of women in Australia. We have a great many groups in Fisher who support, celebrate and encourage women. The Sunshine Coast Business Women's Network seeks to connect and inspire individuals through mentoring programs, bursaries and professional development. Our local chambers of commerce are full of successful female business leaders like Ursula Starkovsky, President of the Glasshouse Country Chamber of Commerce; Leanne Layfield, the executive officer at Caloundra Chamber of Commerce; and Sandy Zubrinich, the chair of the Sunshine Coast Business Council. We have wonderful branches of the Queensland Country Women's Association throughout Fisher at Caloundra, Palmwoods, Maleny, Beerwah and Peachester, and Lioness Clubs at Caloundra and Mooloolaba, among many others. Last month, one of our local young women, Sophie Jennings, achieved her first solo flight in a light aircraft at the Sunshine Coast Aero Club. This was an extraordinary result, an extraordinary milestone, having only recently turned 16 years of age. I congratulate Sophie on this outstanding achievement and wish her well in her future aviation career.

This is only a tiny sample of the many successful women in my local community and only a snapshot of the activities and groups which support them. They show how women themselves and the communities in which they live are taking action to create and exploit their opportunities and build the best lives for themselves and their families. I could take all of the time allotted to this debate listing these local initiatives in Fisher, but I must address the substance of the motion.

It is certainly true that more needs to be done in terms of achieving gender equality in Australia, but under this coalition government we have seen decisive action and excellent results. I will briefly focus on employment outcomes. The most recent figures suggest that 5.6 million Australian women are participating in the workforce. That is a record high, but the Turnbull government is not stopping there. The Minister for Women recently announced the expansion of our existing successful collaboration with UnitingCare Australia in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. We have committed $10 million to the new Launch into Work program. This program will create new partnerships with other businesses and not-for-profits to deliver pre-employment training for women who want to find work.

Again, the latest data suggests that the gender pay gap has recently narrowed. The most important thing that the government can do to narrow it further is to improve access to quality child care and ensure that women are not held back from pursuing their careers. The Turnbull government's increased investment in child care will benefit a million families and ensure that households earning $65,000 or less will have 85 per cent of their costs refunded. For families earning up to $185,000, the government will abolish the $7,500 cap and instead introduce an hourly rate cap to help keep down fee increases.

The Turnbull government is taking action on employment outcomes for women, as well as health outcomes for young girls, on family violence issues and on a host of other important issues which I am sure that my colleagues will explore in this debate. This House should celebrate International Women's Day and it should celebrate the government's delivery of policies that support Australian women.

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