Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wanted to pick up on a couple of comments by those opposite in this debate on this matter of public importance. The minister spoke about defence industry and about how important that was to women's participation in work, but in her contribution the minister failed to acknowledge the gender pay gap that exists within her industry. Take my electorate. We have two big defence manufacturers. One of them manufactures uniforms. The predominantly women workforce are paid substantially less than the predominantly male workforce who work at Thales and manufacture Bushmasters. Both work in the defence industry, both in important roles. One keeps our defence troops safe in terms of uniform, the other in terms of the vehicles they drive, yet their pay is radically different.

Let's also talk about the gender make-up of defence industries. One in five people working in defence industries are women, one in seven are in management and one in 14 are apprentices. So, if the government wants to hold this industry up as an industry doing well for women, it's grossly mistaken.

The next speaker spoke about agriculture and agricultural workforce. Yes, we have lots of women involved in agriculture. However, only 32 per cent of the agricultural workforce are women. The speaker also spoke about the rural women's award, which I have had the opportunity to attend a few years now, with women from my electorate being successful. But what women raise at this awards night every year is that women are still fighting to be recognised as farmers. They're still fighting the concept that they are not the wife of the farmer but the farmer. We still have a long way to go in terms of norms when it comes to women in agriculture. Another speaker spoke about the fact that we had a high number of women take work back up since the pandemic hit and women were stood down. We've had a re-engagement of women.

Let's talk about the jobs they've gone to. It is the casual, insecure jobs. It's the few hours here. It's hospitality in retail. They're often told, 'When business picks back up, you'll get more hours.' It completely misses the point of this MPI. What we in Labor are saying we've put forward is that women do not take extra work. They do not pick up third and fourth days, sometimes at full-time employment, because of the cost of childcare, because of the barriers that are in place.

The final speaker spoke about women wanting more flexibility. Have we ever asked them why? Is it because they are trying to balance the cost of child care? That completely reinforces the point we are making. We have a childcare system that disproportionately affects women, who tend to be the second income earner in households, as the previous speaker on my side from Eden-Monaro mentioned.

I've got local examples. A pharmacist spoke to me. She said that, during the pandemic, her employer asked her to work more hours. She has two children in early childhood education. She actually paid to work. She thought it was her duty to work—it was a pandemic—but it cost her family money to ensure that she turned up and did her role for her community as a pharmacist. The cost of child care actually meant they were paying to work. A nurse, for whom I raised a question in parliament, said she would like to take the third and fourth day, but can't. These are the people that the government are saying are high income earners. Their means test is too mean. It is excluding nurses from taking that extra shift and the pharmacist from working full-time.

An academic at La Trobe University said that, now that her youngest has finished child care and entered primary school, her family is saving thousands. That's the problem. This government's means testing is targeting women. It's excluding women from working full time, if they choose to. If we are genuine about women having choices and flexibility, then don't lock them into part-time work by a means test that means they can only work a couple of days. Ensure that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

This also includes for business. I grew up in a small business family. My mum and dad ran that business. My mum worked just as hard as my dad. My younger sister was in child care. I never once saw my mum work part-time because of child care. She worked just as hard. To suggest that women can run businesses on the side, again diminishes the work that women do. This government doesn't know what to do when it comes to supporting women, whether it be in business or the workplace.

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