Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I don't think the member for Petrie is a bad bloke. I think he supports bad policy, but I don't think he's a bad bloke. We're both parents of young men and we both know that on average our sons will retire with more money than their friends who are women. I'm a proud member of a party that comprises many different people from many different backgrounds who stand together and represent all Australians. Just this morning at a special meeting of Labor women's caucus I looked around the room and saw a number of very strong, meritorious women who all share a goal—that is, to make our country a better, fairer place for all Australians.

This is not a goal that's shared by the LNP—or if it is, and I'm wrong, I think they're doing a pretty atrocious job of showing it. There's a lot to do before women are treated equally and have the same opportunities available to them as men do. This government has made far too little progress in closing that gap. Over these past few weeks we've seen just how vehemently government members have fought against making things a little fairer for the women of their party. How could we ever expect them to do a complete about-face and start making things fairer for the women of this country?

There is still a pay gap in this country. Multiple factors have contributed to that, like glass walls, glass ceilings, undervalued work and underappreciated motherhood, which combine over the years, snowballing over a woman's working lifetime before ultimately coming to a head in retirement. On average women currently retire with superannuation balances that are over 40 per cent lower than men's. It's truly shameful. It is very true that super is not super if you're a woman. In 2015-16 the average super balance for a man was $270,710; for women it was only $157,050. This is a huge difference. We're talking $113,000.

It's no wonder, then, that we've seen a 31 per cent rise in homelessness amongst older women. This government needs to take action immediately. It is indefensible that they stand idly by while one in three Australian women retire into poverty. I'm not going to hold my breath. We all know that this government doesn't represent the needs of women. This government has no analysis on how their budgets will affect women, ultimately resulting in haphazard policies like their proposed income tax cuts that benefit men twice as much as they benefit women. This government has stood in the way of providing paid domestic violence leave for victims to get their affairs in order and escape abusive relationships. Members of this government argued for a tax cut to the GST on a superyacht but fought tooth and nail against a GST cut for tampons—go figure!

Labor pride ourselves on our policies that give a fair go to regular Australians. We pride ourselves in the superannuation policies we have announced today. This is a suite of policies that bring fairness to the superannuation system and will help close the gender gap in super balances. Labor will ensure that the superannuation guarantee is paid on all paid parental leave, and dad and partner pay, from 1 July 2020. This means parents can take time off work to care for their newborn without sacrificing their retirement. Ultimately this will strengthen the superannuation system for 167,000 recipients of paid parental leave and 80,000 recipients of dad and partner pay in the 2020-21 financial year. The other feature of Labor's policy is to phase out the $450-per-month minimum income eligibility threshold for the superannuation guarantee from 2020. We know women are more likely to work in Australia's lowest paid industries, so they are most likely to be affected by this policy. This policy ensures that low-paid workers aren't discriminated against and are able to contribute to their superannuation accounts even when they're on a low income.

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