Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Over the course of the last two weeks, it has been my great privilege to attend many International Women's Day events across my electorate and beyond, including at the Independent Education Union, where I met with educators from all over New South Wales; the New South Wales Labor Women's Network, with Tanya Plibersek; and my own Women of Lindsay Awards breakfast, where eight outstanding woman and one young woman were recognised for their contributions to our community. These women were recognised for being bold in their chosen fields. These women are an asset to our community and beyond for their work in supporting our local area and, particularly, the women in it.

I would like to place on the public record their achievements and my sincere gratitude on behalf of all the people in the Lindsay electorate. Laura Watson was awarded the Lindsay Woman of the Year for her establishment of a women's support network in our community. She followed this up by advocating in her workplace for an event that supported all the women she works with. She is a mum and a White Ribbon Ambassador and she volunteers her time to ensure other women in our community are supported and have a resource and that young women have role models to look to.

Angela Hadchiti received the Lindsay Community Service Award for her awareness-raising for all women who are experiencing and are affected by domestic violence, and in particular her advocacy for ending the woeful cross-examination laws.

Brooke Jones was our Young Woman of the Year. It was felt important to recognise young women in the community doing exceptional things. Brooke is 11 years old and, since she was just seven, she has been busy raising money for the cancer centre. In that time she has collected over $40,000 for people receiving treatment.

Jan Hartley was our Senior Woman of the Year. She is the founding member of Zonta, and they host a number of projects, including days for girls and the annual White Ribbon walk around the Nepean area.

Peggy Wilcox was Small Business Woman of the Year. She was bold for change, put a lot on the line and established her own small business in our community: Mooney Financial Services and Mooney Real Estate.

Our Educators of the Year awards went to four women: Tracy Currie, Venetia Lovett, Katherine Hadley and Shannon Matthews.

And I give a shout-out to the formidable Gina Field, who picked up the New South Wales Business Woman of the Year gong. Even without reliable internet, thanks to this government's botched rollout of the NBN, Gina is running a successful small business in our community, in a male dominated industry.

I also attended the Penrith women's lunch hosted by Penrith Women's Health Centre and Penrith City Council, where I met more women who are being bold for change—a shout-out to the organisers for another successful, well-attended event, with over 200 local women coming.

I visited the Jordan Springs and surrounds women's community group and Glenmore Park High School's young women's group, which comprises young women from years 7 to 12 supporting each other and building up one another for a more gender-inclusive world. A shout out to these young women and their very supportive principal, Lisette Gorick, for nurturing such a wonderful initiative. I hope more high schools in my area—in fact, nationally—get onboard with this idea.

Each of these events was a celebration of being a woman, the positive impact women have on society and the role women play. It is also a demonstration of the community's expectation of how women are viewed and represented. Each of these events was an opportunity to reflect on where the women's movement has been over the last 100 years, where it has to go and how we are going to get there.

I am proud of where the Labor Party has been, in this space, and the reforms and policies Labor has been able to support over the years. Labor's rich legacy in the women's space includes the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act; the National Women's Alliance, so women have a voice in government; the Workforce Gender Equality Agency, to help close the gender pay gap; 1800RESPECT, which we set up; the National Women's Health Policy 2010; and we raised the child-care rebate to 50 per cent.

The thing that makes me most proud is our party's commitment to the affirmative action rule, which is not just a rule. It is a mission and our plan. It is a plan to work towards closing the gender inequality gaps in Australia at the highest level: our parliament. It is why we have more females on our backbench than the government has in its entire caucus, which simply is not good enough. It is unacceptable that half of Australia's population is not represented in the ironically named House of Representatives. The government has a shameful record, in this space, and sees the women's policy area as a place for cuts, not empowerment through good policymaking.

We have a lot more to do, on both sides, in this space, including fighting for fairer pensions; decent superannuation; addressing the fastest growing group of homeless people, older women; fighting against the penalty rate cuts, because we know this will affect more women's take-home pay than it does men and it pushes women further behind; and the national shame that is our shocking domestic-violence statistics and the murder of one woman a week at the hands of her partner or former partner.

I congratulate all those workplaces, schools, bosses and businesses who took time out to recognise International Women's Day and those who are being bold for change. I hope you have a plan of sustained action for advocacy and approach each and every single day—not just International Women's Day—in building up other women and implementing plans in your own circles of influence to end gender inequality.

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