Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Child care, aged care, teaching, nursing and retail: these are all sectors most severely impacted by COVID. Sadly, these industries are dominated by women. And I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised, because one thing we have learnt through COVID is that this virus has a way of exposing flaws in our system and ratcheting up tensions. I'm not surprised, because we've always known that the Australian economy and the Morrison government undervalue female dominated professions in the care economy, in teaching and in frontline retail. So this House should not be surprised that, through COVID, it is women who have been asked to do more and expect less through the most critical national challenge.

I rise to fiercely support this private member's motion and thank the shadow minister for women for bringing this motion on. I regularly door-knock in my electorate of Corangamite to ensure I'm connected with the concerns and needs of my community. As I knock on doors, many people share their challenging stories with me. Perhaps one of the most challenging was from Sarah, who I interrupted while she was on the phone to a local charity. Sarah had lost her job while raising three children on her own and was facing forced rehousing or perhaps homelessness. Her plight, exacerbated by COVID, reveals just how damaging our system can be for women who are vulnerable or just need support to get ahead, raise their children and have hope for the future.

Many of my female constituents have spoken to me about our childcare system and how it doesn't work for them. One of them was Pawandeep, a mother of two who expressed her frustration that, because child care was so expensive, it didn't make sense for her to work extra days in aged care through the pandemic. Through coronavirus, Pawandeep was trying to get more time on the front line to play a vital role in caring for our elderly and most vulnerable. Instead, due to this government's prohibitively expensive childcare system, Pawandeep could not afford to step up. Her story is not an isolated one. Women regularly encounter these obstacles in their working lives. They undertake greater caring responsibilities while working and are often expected to take time out of their careers to care for children and parents.

Women also suffer from a real and sustained pay gap. As a result the average retirement balance is about $280,000 for men and about $160,000 for women. If current settings are extended to maturity, the median balance on retirement will be about $630,000 for men and about only $310,000 for women. This stark contrast reveals just how many women are vulnerable in retirement. And why? Because they care for others.

The government's plan to rectify this is to change the rules so that people are likely to end up with lower super balance in retirement. Even worse, this government is unable or unwilling to address the pay gap or superannuation during maternity leave. But wait, there's more; the government also wants Australians to take a pay cut so that the Liberal Party's donor mates can take home a bigger share of what we make. It will be women in retail and caring industries who continue to carry the unfair burden.

Last International Women's Day the Minister for Women observed:

When women and girls feel safe and valued, they are free to pursue their potential.

Nothing could be more true. But the problem with the Morrison government is that it is doing nothing to empower and support women. The government has sung the praises of women's contributions across the past 12 months, but, as always, the government's talk doesn't match its actions. It's all spin, no substance.

The government say they believe in people having a go to get a go. But they hold women back from working by pricing them out of child care. They refuse to address the pay gap when women are at work. They do nothing to address the disparity in retirement super between men and women. The government say they believe in equity, but they don't fight for it. They certainly do not have a plan. Instead, women who contact my office often feel vulnerable and unsupported. The shadow minister for women has made herself a workhorse for advancing women's status and wellbeing in this country. The Morrison government must do better or step aside and put in a government who will.

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