Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

HARLTON () (): I rise to support the motion put forward by the member for Higgins. I support this motion in recognition of the fact that gender inequality is an issue that continues to confront and unfairly challenge Australian women and girls, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and a decade of inadequate action by the former coalition governments.

It may come as a shock to many that Australia today ranks 43rd out of 146 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index. In 2006 we ranked 15th. Today, ranked in the immediate spots above us are Panama, Ecuador and Bulgaria. While we are ranked 43rd, New Zealand, a country which in so many other ways is similar to us, is ranked fourth. In the span of 16 years, we have dropped by 28 spots.

It's hardly surprising that today women generate less economic income over their lifetimes than men; hold fewer assets, including superannuation, than men; and suffer greater vulnerability following trauma than men. We saw this divide exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, where women were amongst the groups that were most disproportionately affected by its pressures, which entrenched the inequality that exists between men and women in this country.

Why is it so important to address gender equity? First and foremost, it's a human rights issue—a fundamental inequity that is an affront to every Australian. Second, it's an economic issue. Australia faces many challenges to our economy, including slowing productivity growth and international challenges associated with the slowing economies around us and amongst our trading partners. If we're to lift economic growth and productivity, then we cannot allow gender inequity to continue in our economy. We cannot allow a gender wage gap. We cannot allow differences across careers. We cannot allow the differences in participation rates between women and men. This is one of the primary drivers of stronger economic growth over the next decade—a driver that we must not ignore.

Last week, with the Minister for the Environment and Water, I had the opportunity to visit a site that might be considered ground zero of women's inequality in Australia. Within my electorate, the Parramatta Female Factory is, on the one hand, one of the crown jewels in our trove of heritage assets but, on the other hand, a stark reminder of the history of inequity and marginalisation towards women within Australia. As the Minister for the Environment and Water said during her visit last week, the Parramatta Female Factory is a brilliant example of Australia's social welfare history. It was a place where women were sent if they were unmarried or unutilised and where they were left to engage in manufacturing, in often appalling conditions. The site tells the tragic story of institutionalised women and girls over the 19th and 20th centuries. The site plays a pivotal role in our nation's colonial history, with thousands of women passing through the factory as prisoners and later patients in what was then the Parramatta asylum.

The female factory was also the site of Australia's first industrial action, a moment when the female inmates of the Parramatta Female Factory rose up and demanded better treatment. In the famous female factory riot, they stood up to their captors, protested against the treatment they were receiving and demanded better conditions within the factory. Today the factory serves as a constant reminder of how far we've come in the story of gender equity in Australia, but also how far we have to go. How can we reach our aspiration of a more egalitarian and equitable nation without action on gender equity?

On 21 May 2022, a decade of inaction and neglect was broken when the Albanese Labor government was elected. I stand here today as a proud member of a government which has begun to deliver real change, addressing the key factors that have entrenched gender inequity for so long. I'm proud to be part of a government that is investing in cheaper child care. I'm proud to be part of a government that is recognising gender equity as a key part of fair working conditions and making gender equity and job security objects of the Fair Work Act. (Time expired)

See this speech in context