Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Calwell for the question. We came into the parliament together, and I know she and I are so incredibly proud of the work that this government is doing for gender equality. We are deeply focused on delivering for women on this side of the House. As the first federal government to be majority-women, gender equality runs deep in our veins. It's why our tax-cut plan will see tax cuts for every single woman who pays tax in this country. Our plan, in fact, will see a bigger tax cut for 90 per cent of Australian women taxpayers, who will receive an additional average tax cut of $707. That is 5.8 million Australian women.

Women work hard across every aspect of our economy, and we want to ensure that they are able to keep more of that hard-earned money to meet the daily challenges and cost-of-living pressures they face. On average, a woman working full-time in Australia now earns $135 a week more than when we came to office. That is a substantial increase that does not happen by accident. This wage growth means women are earning more, and our tax reforms mean that they get to keep more of what they earn. ABS data reported last week shows that the gender pay gap has dropped to a record low. It shows that Labor's efforts to support women's economic equality are working in a very real and very tangible way that is making a difference to Australian women across this country. Yesterday, we saw the results of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, publishing gender pay gaps for nearly 5,000 Australian private sector employers for the first time.

We're acting to make these changes because economic equality is a core principle of what we do. It's why we've reformed the industrial relations system to improve how it works for women, reforms that those opposite opposed. It's why we introduced reforms to fix the bargaining system, to get wages moving, particularly in those industries which largely employ women. We know that reforms to change the law to put gender equity at the heart of the Fair Work Commission decision-making are making a substantial difference. Reforms that are making a difference to the lives of women right the way across the country don't happen by accident. It is a deliberate design feature of everything that we do to make sure women are able to earn more and get to keep more of that hard-earned money.

See this speech in context