Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think it's fair to say that no government would want to be in the position that we found ourselves in just a few months ago, having to prioritise the health of all Australians while also giving regard to the economy. The strong, decisive actions of our government have led the way in countries across the world. We have seen success on the health front. There is no doubt that, by putting in place those appropriate measures, we have slowed the spread of the coronavirus. We are certainly all aware that the economic impacts of COVID-19 have been severe. Businesses and households are facing increased uncertainty. We all witnessed the lines outside of Centrelink as job losses came swiftly. It was very painful to witness. This government rightly took swift action to address the devastating consequences of the pandemic, including with the in introduction of JobKeeper.

In my community alone 2,800 businesses have been processed to receive JobKeeper so far. Our community is innovative, entrepreneurial and has a significant number of small businesses both owned by and employing women. In a region that has a significantly high number employed in the private sector, JobKeeper has proved absolutely necessary. The package kept a large number of northern Tasmanians in work and our businesses in business.

Just last week I held a tele town hall with Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein where we engaged with thousands in our northern Tasmanian community to discuss the health and economic response to COVID-19. It was certainly made clear that JobKeeper had had a positive impact at a very difficult time. This payment has been used to keep businesses afloat during this time across a range of sectors, including the female dominated hospitality industry.

Restaurant owner Karen Burbury owns and runs successful restaurants in Bass—Cataract on Paterson and Rupert and Hound—employing over 100 people, many of them women. She says: 'JobKeeper has granted us the confidence to plan for the future success of our restaurants. The payment has given us the opportunity to retain our employees, as our teams are the backbone of our businesses' foundation. The payment has been very valuable for the wellbeing and mental health of all our employees and it has offered them the reassurance that their position is secure when the restrictions are lifted. As a business owner, it has given me the security to engage with our employees and renewed hope that our local economy will come back.'

As we now look to the next phase of our economic recovery, much is being done by our government to ensure that our economy can begin to recover. As the Prime Minister pointed out earlier this week, almost 30 months of job growth was lost overnight when COVID-19 took hold a few months ago. Undoubtedly, the impact has been devastating, but it could have been far, far worse without the right economic strategy in place. And, as we look to the recovery phase, it is important that women's roles in the workforce are taken into account.

A study earlier this year showed that women dominated employment growth in this country for both full- and part-time work and that prior to COVID-19 there were more women in work than ever before. As we've heard, the gender pay gap has reduced to its lowest level on record at 13.9 per cent, which is well below the 17.4 per cent gap when those opposite were last in office. Of course, not for one second am I saying that equity and equality for women in the workforce has magically been fixed or that there aren't unique challenges facing women across my community and the country as we look to our economic recovery. Without a doubt, we know that this pandemic has had an impact on women and we need to focus on that as we prepare and plan our way out. This is partly due to the fact that women are heavily represented, as we've heard, in sectors with sharp decreases in paid work, such as the hospitality, tourism and retail sectors. We know that increasing women's participation in paid employment will assist in accelerating Australia's overall recovery. Our investment in essential services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic ensures that women are well positioned to play a full and equal role in every aspect of Australia's response and recovery.

As the economy, particularly in those industries which employ large numbers of women, such as retail and hospitality, starts to revive again, we would hope to see at least an additional improvement in that situation. Just this week, we saw some welcome news on Tuesday, with ABS payroll data showing the number of females in jobs increasing by 1.4 per cent through May, compared with 0.4 per cent for males. While we undoubtedly have more work to do, this is an encouraging start. The government are continuing our focus on women with our $158.3 million women's economic security plan, which we were the first to introduce.

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