Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

Last Wednesday was International Day of the Girl, a day to celebrate girls and encourage their leadership potential. In that spirit, today 17 young women have taken over parliament as part of the international girls' parliamentary takeover. Yep, today they experience a day in the life of a politician, a wonderful opportunity for these young women to see that their parliamentary aspirations are attainable. Taking over my office today and having written this speech is Isabelle Franklin, a young woman studying neuroscience and law at the Australian National University and currently completing her honours thesis on gender equality in the law. She is here with me today to provide insight into the report released by Plan International Australia just this morning and to highlight their recommendations for a more gender-equal future.

The She can lead report gives really quite shocking insights into how girls' leadership aspirations diminish as they become older. Fewer young women than men aspire to leadership. Shockingly, the report reveals that half of young women in Australia believe that their gender is the biggest factor holding them back from becoming leaders. Plan Australia is calling for a gender-equal federal election in 2018-19, and the Australian Labor Party's gender figures are living proof that targets work. The She can lead report is a call to action to all those in power—in media, in business, in politics—to stand with girls and help create the change they want to see. Thanks, Plan International Australia, for creating this opportunity—and go, Isabelle!

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