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

This month we mark 30 years since Labor introduced affirmative action and quotas to get more women into government. Let me say: quotas work. As a result of Labor introducing quotas, our caucus is now majority female. I pay tribute to some of the trailblazing women who have helped us to get to this position. Labor is the home of the first deputy leader of a major political party in this country, Jenny Macklin, and, of course, our first female prime minister, Julia Gillard.

In the Labor Party, we know that having women in the room and in parliament works. It gets us the results we need. As a result of having majority women in caucus, we are introducing policies like cheaper child care. We're putting superannuation on paid parental leave—six months paid parental leave—and this has expanded the scheme. We are increasing wages for aged-care workers and early childhood educators, and we are funding front-line services to end family and domestic violence. We are also doing much to reduce the gender pay gap. This week we will be introducing legislation to make sure that early childhood workers get a pay rise before Christmas. This all comes because we have women in the room. When women are in places of decision-making, we do better. I know this as patron of WILD—Women in Local Democracy— (Time expired)

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