Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Morrison government has shown clear and decisive leadership in guiding our nation through this twin crisis created by coronavirus. We acted early in declaring COVID-19 a pandemic to give our health system the best chance to prepare for an outbreak. And we put in place social-distancing restrictions to protect all Australians, but especially our most vulnerable. As a nation we've done a great job of flattening the curve, which has seen Australia become a world leader in fighting the coronavirus. National cabinet, led by our Prime Minister, has developed a clear plan to remove the restrictions which were necessary to suppress the virus in our community. We're focusing on reopening the economy, and we're focusing on creating jobs. We want jobs across all industries.

The Prime Minister has acknowledged that the health and economic impacts of coronavirus are affecting women more than men, with 55 per cent of jobs lost being held by women. It is a fact that women hold less-secure employment, such as part-time or casual employment, and make up the greater proportion of workers in industries which have been hit hard as a result of the pandemic, such as hospitality and retail. Prior to coronavirus, there were more women in work than ever before and the gender pay gap had closed to its lowest level on record at 13.9 per cent, well below the 17.4 per cent that was the gap when Labor were last in office.

This is why supporting employment and supporting businesses as they reopen is central to providing financial security for women. Business supports, such as the JobKeeper wage subsidy, have kept employment opportunities open for women, and I can quote Belinda Merlino, who is the owner of Concord's The Skin Clinic in my electorate of Reid. She said, 'The government has done an amazing job for us in helping us all during this time.' On Tuesday, it was encouraging to see that the ABS payroll data showed that the number of females in jobs increased by 1.4 per cent through May, compared with 0.4 for males. While we undoubtedly have more work to do, this is an encouraging start.

I have spoken in this place before about the need to support more flexible working arrangements and childcare provisions to encourage more women to return to the workforce. Recent challenges posed by the need for children to stay at home and to be schooled at home has brought this issue into focus. Social distancing and restrictions in public spaces have led to an increase in unpaid care work—not only care for children but also care for older family members who have been asked to isolate in their homes.

Many parents from my electorate, often mothers, have been in contact with me over the past few months to share their own experiences of the unique impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on their working life and family structure. It was this valuable feedback that directly influenced the Morrison government's decision to supply a childcare relief package for families at this critical time when parents have been working from home. While free child care allowed parents to continue to work at the height of restrictions, we are now once again adjusting the support to this critical industry based on feedback from providers as demand for care increases.

We must keep providers viable at this critical time. There is more work to be done to support working women, but the key to this is ensuring that childcare centres remain open. As businesses ease back into more regular operations it is imperative that childcare facilities are able to offer parents the ability to increase the number of days they can access. That is why we have made adjustments to the activity test and introduced a $708 million transition payment to keep the childcare sector viable for consumers and for providers.

Tough times don't excuse abusive behaviour at home, and even in a crisis there's no place for abuse or domestic violence. It's devastating that this pandemic has led to an increase in domestic violence reports and that 1800RESPECT has seen an increase in the number of calls for assistance. The government is proud to have had the largest-ever Commonwealth investment, of $340 million, for prevention and frontline services to support the Fourth Action Plan, including $82.2 million to improve and build on frontline services. (Time expired)

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