Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

It really is a great day today for Australian women. I was so proud to be there this morning when I stood behind the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow Treasurer and the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party while they made a really significant announcement that is going to improve the economic security of women. I'm very proud to be in a political party that places this issue right at the front and centre of the political debate. We do that as a Labor Party not because our leaders support it, although they very much do, but because we're part of a movement of people who are trying to ensure that more Australian women retire into comfort. That movement includes incredible women who are part of the trade union movement, and it includes these amazing women who sit behind right me now in the chamber. I have behind me the member for Newcastle, who is the chair of our women's caucus. It was fantastic to be there this morning with the shadow Treasurer to talk to that caucus about the big reforms that Labor is planning to make for Australian women.

Labor is incredibly proud of our superannuation system. It is a system that we designed, that we put into practice and that has helped millions of Australians retire into more comfort. But the truth is it's a system that's not working perfectly today for Australian women. We know that Australian women retire on average with 40 per cent lower superannuation accounts than Australian men. In 2015-16, the average retirement balance for a man was $270,710. For a woman it was just over $157,000, a difference of $113,600. That's a very significant difference in the standard of living that you're going be able to achieve in retirement. We also know that women who are at that lower end when they retire are growing in number. The shadow Treasurer spoke earlier about the fact that just two in 10 women in today's Australia are retiring with the level of comfort in retirement that we would expect for them. We know that Australian women who are over the age of 55 are the fastest growing group of Australian people living with homelessness.

This is not something that the group of people who sit behind me in the chamber can stand by and watch happening without doing anything to fix. That's why today Labor made this incredibly important announcement about some big changes that we will make to retirement incomes for women if elected in the future. The most important part of the change that we're announcing today, the most significant amount, is that for the first time Australian women will receive superannuation payments when they're taking paid parental leave. That's an 18-week payment that, again, Labor members of parliament brought into Australian law in this parliament. For the first time we're going to pay superannuation on those accounts.

Deputy Speaker, you're also probably aware that there's a $450-a-month threshold that has to be met before an employee can be due superannuation. We're going to scrap it. The reason we're doing that is that we acknowledge that, especially in the workforce of today, there are so many people who are working casually and part time who are not reaching that $450 threshold. There are other important changes that Labor has proposed today, but the two that I've talked about are the ones that are going to have the most impact.

What is so exciting about these changes is that we talk in the parliament about the different regulations and that sort of thing, but what really matters is what happens at the end of a woman's working life and how much money, essentially, she ends up with in retirement. One of the examples that we've talked about today is that a woman under the age of 30 who has two children, with the combination of the changes that Labor's announced today, would be $24,000 better off. This is a powerful difference. A woman who has three children around that same age bracket might be $30,000 better off in her retirement just because of the changes that Labor is announcing today.

Again, can I just say how incredibly proud I am to be in a political party that is willing to accept the centrality of this issue to the Australian people. I have to say I don't think it's an accident that you see two very different political parties that oppose one another in this chamber: one party in which almost half of our members of parliament are female, and one which is having a very significant and deep-seated problem in getting and keeping talented women in this parliament. I take no delight in that problem, because the truth is that, above being a member of parliament and a member of the Labor Party, I'm an Australian woman, and I need governments to make good public policy, and we don't see that on that side of the chamber, because they just can't get the representation they need. Today Labor showed once again that we are there for Australian women when they need us.

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