Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I agree with the members' sentiments. It's a pleasure to speak on this private members' motion to highlight the amazing achievements that have been made by women. This Sunday marks International Women's Day, a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. From women who are the backbone of families and communities to those who are visionary entrepreneurs and run million-dollar businesses on the Gold Coast, our women are engaged and they are strong. It's fitting that we celebrate their contribution on International Women's Day.

As part of International Women's Day this year, I will attend the launch of the 2020 Gold Coast Women of the Year awards, present bid the Gold Coast Bulletin and host at the Star Gold Coast. Nominations will be open and represent a broad categories, including sport, education and entertainment. Last year the inaugural event included 359 nominations across eight categories at a sold-out luncheon. This shows the incredible support shown by the Gold Coast community to celebrate the achievements made by women who make a most valuable contribution to our city. The 2019 winner was the former Bleach* CEO and artistic director, Louise Bezzina, for her incredible work in the events sector, a key pillar on the Gold Coast.

Last week I spoke in parliament about the fantastic women in Gold Coast sport and the launch of the first women's national team, the Gold Coast Suns, in the AFLW. We live in a momentous time for women's sport across our country, with women's T20 cricket recently achieving pay parity and women's surfing achieving equal pay. It's important that we celebrate women's sport, particularly given some of the challenges they face, including access to facilities and funding, and social and cultural barriers.

We've heard before that you cannot be what you cannot see, and many Australians look to sports stars as leaders in our society. That's why their behaviour as role models is so important. To all those young girls out there: if you have yet watched our fabulous new sport stars, I encourage you to tune in to the AFL Women's and cheer on the Gold Coast Suns women's team.

The Gold Coast is the small business capital of the Australia. In my electorate alone there are over 32,000 of them. It's so important to support small business and celebrate their success, and I want to take the opportunity to highlight the achievements and immense contributions that women-led businesses make to both the Gold Coast and the Australian economy. Locally, in Surfers Paradise, I had the privilege of meeting with women leaders with the Minister for small and family business, Senator Michaelia Cash. I met with them on a second occasion when I hosted a roundtable discussion with the Minister for Women, Senator Marise Payne. It was the first time in history female leaders in business on the Gold Coast had the opportunity to meet with the Liberal Minister for Women.

These women have been successful across many industries, including manufacturing, health, law and the automotive sector. I would like to pay special mention to the Women in Business Awards of Australia and Queensland Women in Business CEO Karen Phillips, who has been instrumental in unearthing the depth and breadth of the growing cohort of female leaders in our city. Her work through these awards has encouraged ambition, empowered confidence and inspired women leaders now and into the future. These awards support and promote the exceptional work women are doing in the business community. Last year the winners from my electorate were Lucy Johnston, Renee Tocco, Andrea Lewis and Samantha Reynolds. I congratulate all of them on winning the 2019 prize.

The Morrison government backs Australian women, expands their choices and delivers more opportunities. Under our government we've created more than 1.5 million jobs through the hard work of Australians each and every day. The majority of these have actually been taken up by women. Women's workforce participation is at a record high of just over 61 per cent, and the gender pay gap is now at a record low of 14 per cent. We've achieved equality in the number of women and men in the Australian Senate for the first time in history, and there are very many more women in the class of 2019 than there were at the last election. I'm very pleased to say we've moved within cooee of equal representation on government boards. As of 30 June last year, women held 47.9 per cent of positions. That is an all-time high. It's, in fact, the highest percentage of women in government boards since public reporting began in 2009. Of course, we must keep fighting against domestic violence to change the attitudes of those who offend and work towards zero deaths.

To close, I would like to commend the Morrison government on the work it has done to prioritise secure, fair and equal status for women. Perhaps we can look forward to a day when 'women in business' awards and roundtable discussions on how we can support women are no longer required. I wish women across Moncrieff, across the Gold Coast and of course across our great country a very happy and celebratory International Women's Day.

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