Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask leave of the House to move a motion relating to the proposed special provisions for nursing mothers. Copies of the proposed resolution have been placed on the table.

Leave granted.

I move:

(1)

That the House, recognising that Members who are required to nurse infants may not always be able to attend in the Chamber to vote in divisions:

(a)

agrees that, despite the provisions of the standing orders, a Member may give her vote by proxy for any division except that on the third reading of a bill which proposes an alteration of the Constitution if the Member is nursing an infant at the time of the division;

(b)

determines that for the purposes of this resolution, a government Member may give her proxy  to the Chief Government Whip, and that a non-government Member may give her proxy to the Chief Opposition Whip;

(c)

determines that for the purposes of standing orders 129, 130 and 131 any proxy vote given in accordance with this resolution is to be treated as if it was a vote given by the Member present in the Chamber; and

(d)

is of the opinion that the special provisions of this resolution should not be extended or adapted to apply to Members who are not able to be present in the Chamber for other reasons; and

(2)

That this resolution has effect and continues in force unless and until amended or rescinded by the House in this or a subsequent Parliament.

The Rudd government is proud to introduce this system of ensuring that nursing mothers are not excluded from voting. It is a special provision for members with nursing infants because we are committed to making the parliament more family friendly. Through this change we will allow nursing mothers to proxy off their vote to the party whip on most divisions if they need to look after their children. Unlike pair votes, the proxy vote will be treated as if the member was in the chamber. The sensible exception to this is divisions to amend the Constitution.

This motion broadly reflects an agreement reached by the three chief whips which was referred to the Procedure Committee at the end of the last parliament. The government recognises that the Procedure Committee was not able to reach a unanimous decision on this matter. This was in large part because a number of committee members were concerned that a precedent could be established by introducing proxy voting, even on a limited basis for nursing mothers. To this end I ask honourable members to note paragraph (1)(d) of the motion, that this provision should not be used as a precedent for other situations. The government also understands that the effective operation of the proxy process requires trust in the integrity of the chief whips, but members should have confidence in both of them.

The Rudd government is introducing a series of changes to the House standing orders as part of our intention to modernise the workings of parliament. The fact is that this parliament is changing. Increasingly, it is becoming more reflective of society as a whole. In 1943 Dorothy Tangney became an ALP senator for Western Australia and Enid Lyons entered the House as a Liberal Party MP. It was another 40 years again before the first woman gave birth while being a member of parliament. That was Ros Kelly in 1983. I am happy to say that we have come a long way in Australian politics since 1983. Today we have a record 40 women serving as members of parliament in this House, 27 of whom are members of the Australian Labor Party. And of course there are six women in the Rudd ministry, led by the Deputy Prime Minister—the first woman Deputy Prime Minister, who late last year became the first female Acting Prime Minister of this nation.

It is important to recognise that we need to change the way that we operate as a parliament to reflect the changes that occur in our composition. A number of people in the ministry—Tanya Plibersek, Nicola Roxon and Justine Elliot—perform the tough balancing act of motherhood and work every single day. I do not envy them. The member for Capricornia could certainly indicate how difficult it is to have two children under the age of five and to travel down to Canberra from Rockhampton to represent her electorate.

The fact of the matter is that, by the time their first child has turned three, nearly 70 per cent of mothers are back in the workforce. This parliament needs to recognise this. I understand that there are some reservations from some members of the parliament, not out of a concern about ensuring that women who are nursing mothers are able to participate in the parliament but a concern about the precedent that could be created. That is why, in moving this motion, I am making it clear on behalf of the government that we do not regard this as a precedent for other situations. I am also making it clear with respect to any concerns that, as with other provisions that are made, we need to continually look at how the standing orders are operating in practice and revisit them if they are not working in practice. The fact is, though, that this change is an important reform. I think it will send a message to the public at large that we indeed recognise that working families are a reality and that working families, particularly working mothers and new mothers, have a critical role in this parliament if we are to truly be a representative parliament of Australia. I commend the motion to the House.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We support in principle this proposal. We do so in good faith. We also recognise that there are a number of members of this parliament who have grave reservations about this—not because it involves working mothers but because it involves proxies. That is new ground in relation to the voting in this place. Giving proxies to whips is something that has not happened before, and in that regard we are very concerned about the proposal. I would ask the Leader of the House to consider a review of this after 12 months. I think we need to look at it very carefully. As I said, we come in good faith. We look at ways that we can try to improve the lot of everyone in the House. But at the same time we all have individual responsibilities as members of this place to place our own votes. There are issues that need to be addressed. If an independent who is a nursing mother is elected to this place, there is no whip. As the member for Kennedy just reminded us, he is his own whip. Who would that person notify should they be nursing? Again, I emphasise that there are reservations, about the process rather than the outcome, and I would appreciate it if the Leader of the House would help conduct a review after 12 months to see that the proxy matter is addressed properly.

Question agreed to.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The honourable members for Reid and Melbourne Ports are not setting a good example to the conscientious new colleagues that they have who are here in the chamber at 10 to two. If you are going to stay in the chamber, could you please take your places.