Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canberra for her question. Hello to all the students up there that we had breakfast with together this morning. I really hope you're enjoying your stay and enjoying question time.

The Albanese Labor government believes in women, and the budget last night absolutely proved the respect we have for equity, for diversity and for fairness. There will be cheaper child care. In fact, there will be $4.7 billion of cheaper child care, which will make child care more affordable for 97 per cent of Australian families. We've expanded the Paid Parental Leave scheme to 26 weeks and it also applies to single-parent families, and that is an extraordinary contribution to the life of families in this country and, in particular, to the participation of women in the workforce. And we will provide greater flexibility for families to ensure that the paid parental leave system works in ways that are best for them. It's not up to government to decide that; it's up to families to work out the ways that are best for them. We are going to invest $1.7 billion in women's safety initiatives, including $170 million for 500 frontline community workers to support women and children experiencing domestic violence. I know that the Leader of the Opposition has a particular interest in this cause, and I respect him for that.

These are all policies in our first budget that are good for women, good for families and good for our economy. Australia should not rank 43rd out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum global gender gap index. That is shameful, and we need to move that. We have a gender pay gap of 14 per cent in this country, and we know absolutely that gender equality is a key factor behind the issue of gender based violence. The tragic stories that we all saw on Four Corners earlier in the week absolutely underscore this terrible inequity. That's why we'll develop a standalone First Nations national plan to tackle gender based violence for Indigenous women, and that will be led by the work of Minister Rishworth, in terms of her responsibility. I am absolutely proud to be part of this government.

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