Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that International Women's Day:

(a) will be celebrated globally on Sunday, 8 March 2015;

(b) is a day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women, and to review how far women have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development; and

(c) in 2015 will reflect on the Beijing Platform for Action, a progressive blueprint for advancing women's rights launched 20 years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing;

(2) notes that:

(a) at the launch of Beijing +20 in 2014, United Nations Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka identified that a number of critical areas for women raised in Beijing 20 years ago still require significant action to address, including:

  (i) reducing women's share of poverty;

  (ii) improving access to health and education;

  (iii) ending violence against women;

  (iv) ensuring women's full participation in decision-making;

  (v) ensuring women's equal opportunities in the economy;

  (vi) removing gender stereotypes;

  (vii) increasing women's role in the media; and

  (viii) protecting the human rights of all women and girls; and

(3) urges all Members of Parliament to be leaders in their community and act on the advancement of gender equality in Parliament.

Next Sunday, 8 March, is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women and to review how far women have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is an also an opportunity to stop and check on the direction we are moving in towards gender equality, to take stock and to confront squarely the challenges ahead.

This year, International Women's Day will highlight the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a historic roadmap, signed by 189 governments including Australia, 20 years ago, at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. In Australia, we have made progress in implementing the Beijing Platform—and so we should, I might add—and in recent years have made a number of significant achievements, as outlined in our most recent report to the United Nations. Labor's introduction of an affordable national paid parental leave scheme in 2011 has assisted more than 400,000 families to balance family, caring and work roles and allowed women to take time off work to care for their child.

Internationally, we have been a major contributor to promoting women's leadership, economic empowerment and safety in the Pacific region. I have been lucky enough in the last 12 months to take part in women's leadership programs in Samoa and the Solomon Islands and this morning I joined with Madam Speaker and a number of women parliamentary colleagues from across the political divide with a delegation of Fijian women parliamentarians. These engagements with women from across the Pacific provide renewed impetus for me—and I hope this parliament—to ensure that Australia continues to take a lead role in our region to promote gender equality, opportunity and safety for women.

In 2010, the former Labor government introduced a 12-year framework to address Australia's commitment to upholding the human rights of women and to bring together the nation to achieve a significant and sustained reduction in the levels of violence against women. I note that the current government have continued the implementation of the plan, and I commend them for doing so, although I share the very real concerns raised by Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, about the negative impact of cuts to government funding and front-line support services for women and children.

In Australia, on average one woman is killed every week as a result of intimate partner violence, and it is most likely to occur in her home. In Indigenous communities, the statistics are at their worst, with Aboriginal women 34 times more likely to be hospitalised for violent assault than non-Indigenous women, and 10 times more likely to die as a result of family violence. These are shocking statistics for a wealthy and developed nation like Australia. No nation can afford to have so many of its citizens left in such dangerous and vulnerable circumstances to fend for themselves. We must make a more concerted effort on a national level to address these issues. No woman or child should feel unsafe in their own home, anywhere or anytime.

Finally, I would like to draw attention to the issue of inequality in the workplace. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency was established in 2012 to promote and improve gender equality in Australian workplaces. Australia remains a nation where women are paid less for the work they do, do more unpaid work, are denied seats at the heads of the largest corporations—and in this place too, I might add—are more stressed and are more likely to be victims of workplace harassment. As reported last week, our gender pay gap has blown out to a record high, stretching to 18.8 per cent. What was the government's response to this inequality in the workplace? It was a watering down of the gender reporting guidelines for businesses, as announced last week. I call on the 'Prime Minister for women' and his government to reconsider their position in light of the shocking state of the gender pay equity gap in Australia.

As outlined in the motion before the House today, International Women's Day is a time to reflect. If we are serious about gender inequality, we must confront the stark reality that we need to do much more. I look forward to celebrating International Women's Day with colleagues and organisations in Canberra this week and, on return to my electorate of Newcastle, I will celebrate with the Union of Australian Women at their annual dinner with special guest speaker Helen Cummings, a longstanding activist and advocate against violence towards women.

I finish with some words delivered by our first woman Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, who reflected on inequality at an event just last week:

When it comes to gender inequality, we feel the restlessness reminiscent of children in the back of the car chanting 'are we there yet', and unfortunately we are not there yet.

(Time expired)

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Newcastle for moving this motion and join her in celebrating International Women's Day. This Sunday, 8 March, people across the world will celebrate International Women's Day. It is a day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women. It is also an opportunity to reflect upon how far women have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. This year's theme is 'Make it Happen', through which we are encouraged to celebrate women's achievements and to call for greater equality between the genders. This year, 2015, marks the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held Beijing and where the Beijing Platform for Action, a progressive blueprint for advancing women's rights, was launched 20 years ago. At this conference, 20 years ago, a number of critical aspects of women's rights were raised, and today many of these aspects still require significant action to address and achieve equality.

In my view, the greatest inequality against women is violence. Efforts to protect the human rights of women and girls have not been as successful as they need to be. It is inexcusable that in a country as advanced as ours on average every week a woman is killed by a current or former partner and one in three women over the age of 15 experience physical violence in their lifetime. Last week I spoke in parliament about the shocking and saddening statistic that the electorate of Dobell exhibits the second highest rate of domestic and family violence in New South Wales. It is my responsibility as an elected member of parliament to ensure that the voiceless are given a voice and that this inequality and injustice is stamped out.

I welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement earlier this year that the problem of violence against women at a national level has been placed on the COAG agenda and that an advisory panel on violence against women has been established. Last year the government launched the Second Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. This plan outlines a whole-of-community approach to prevent violence against women and children in our society. International Women's Day provides a united voice to stand up and speak out against such inequalities.

Another notable inequality is equal opportunity for women in the economy. I welcome the bipartisan approach taken by this parliament to increase women's workforce participation and improve gender equality in the workplace. In 2014, the World Economic Forum ranked Australia 24th out of 142 nations on its Global Gender Gap Report, with Australia having slipped from 15th in 2006. Disappointingly, Australia ranked 51st for women's labour force participation and 63rd for wage equality for similar work. However, it is not all bad news. There are encouraging statistics that come from this report. Australia ranked equal first for educational attainment, literacy rates and enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education. This is an area where we are leading the world, and we have an opportunity to play a significant role in lifting the educational standards for women in developing nations. Increasing access to education empowers women in many ways. Education is a ticket to a brighter future, a job and self-sufficiency. Together we can lift many women out of poverty and empower them to lead their own independent lives.

Twenty years ago the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing aimed to ensure women's full participation in decision-making, an increased role for women in the media and the end of gender stereotypes. It is important that we encourage women to partake in decision-making roles. But I strongly support the view that this should be achieved by encouraging, mentoring and supporting capable women based upon merit and capacity. Be it in parliament, in the boardroom or in senior executive positions, we have no shortage of amazing, talented women capable of conducting these roles. Today, and indeed every day, we should ensure that we are mentoring and encouraging women and making it clear that they have a right to succeed in roles which have historically been male dominated.

I am proud to be the first female elected to represent the people of Dobell. In 2015, it is difficult to envisage an Australia where women did not have the right to vote. It took until 1911 for all Australian jurisdictions to allow women the vote. Sadly, the freedom of having your own say in politics is a basic right not shared by many women around the world. All members of parliament are leaders in our local community, and we have a responsibility to champion the cause of gender equality. I again commend the member for Newcastle for this motion and restate my commitment to support gender equality in my electorate here in parliament. (Time expired)

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, am very pleased to rise to support this motion by the member for Newcastle. I commend her for moving this motion and I acknowledge the previous speakers as well. I, too, note that International Women's Day will be celebrated globally on Sunday, 8 March 2015. It is a day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women and to review how far women have come in the struggle for equality, peace and development.

On International Women's Day we honour women locally and from all corners of the globe for the unique contributions that they make. These contributions are equally important and wide ranging through so many different and diverse areas. In 2015 we also reflect on the Beijing Platform for Action—a very progressive blueprint for advancing women's rights launched 20 years ago. It is amazing to think it was 20 years ago that it was launched at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. At that particular conference, 17,000 participants and 30,000 activists went to Beijing for the opening in September 1995. They were an incredibly diverse and wide-ranging group coming from all around the globe. But they had a single purpose in mind, and that was about the empowerment of all women and gender equality.

The conference produced the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women's rights. Indeed, the Platform for Action put forth a world where each women and girl can exercise her freedoms and choices and realises her rights—really important rights, such as being able to attend school and being able to earn equal pay for equal work. Hillary Clinton led the US delegation to China in 1995 and delivered a now famous speech on the treatment of women around the world. Twenty years ago in that speech she said:

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.

The 20th anniversary of Beijing opens new opportunities to reflect and generate interest and political will in the advancing of the opportunities and challenges that women face worldwide.

Everyone has an important role to play in progressing women's rights for our common good, for everybody. The evidence increasingly shows that the empowering of women empowers and strengthens communities, economies grow faster and families are healthier and much better educated. Women today occupy many leadership positions in our local community and in the business world, as well as performing vital roles in both the paid and unpaid workforce. I would like to pay tribute to all those women I know in my community who make a difference to the lives of so many.

Whilst we have achieved so much, there are still so many challenges that remain. Many of those issues first raised at the conference require significant action to address them. Despite continued institutional and societal reform to promote women within our communities and to protect their basic rights, women in many areas have been disadvantaged. There are still so many areas that need improvement. Women still disproportionately suffer from poverty and violence in our community. Pay and gender inequality is still a major concern. There must be greater access to health and education and, indeed, there must be greater protection of the human rights of women and girls around the world

I believe that a quality education benefits everyone—women and men. Quality is best achieved when we all work together. I am so proud to be a member of the Labor Party, which has always striven to promote the rights of women. We have introduced some policies that have really benefited women, such as the age pension, universal health care through Medicare, no-fault divorce and single parents pension, a paid parental leave scheme, changes to the Fair Work Act to provide greater equality and a national plan to reduce violence against women. We have also increased funding to increase access to education, particularly university education, providing greater employment opportunities for women. I am very proud of that record. Improving women's economic security and fighting to ensure women's equal place in society are very important goals.

I would like to congratulate the many groups in my electorate who really strive to improve conditions for women. Whether they are community groups, business groups, support groups or friendship groups, they play a vital role. Many of the emergency support groups play such an important role, but lately many of those important support services have had their funding cut by Liberal-National state and federal governments. It means that many women, particularly those fleeing from domestic violence, are not able to access the services that they and their children desperately need.

I know from my time as a former police officer how important these services are. The cuts to front-line services, including both community services at a federal level and domestic violence services at a state level, have devastating effects on many communities. Make no mistake: these are bad decisions by bad governments, just like their cruel cuts to health and education. The fact is investing in women and girls is good for societies and good for the future prosperity of countries. On International Women's Day we all have to recommit ourselves to a future of equality so together we can ensure that people everywhere have an opportunity to live up to their potential. In 2015, as we reflect on the Beijing Platform for Action designed 20 years ago, let us focus on advancing women's rights worldwide. Have a wonderful and inspiring International Women's Day.

Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to commend the member for Newcastle and the member for Dobell for bringing forward this motion to celebrate International Women's Day and add my voice as a man in support of these worthy objectives that are in the International Women's Day platform, the Beijing Platform for Action. Men have a critical role to play in so many of these areas and so many of these facets, including combatting violence against women, ending stereotypes and ensuring that women have a role to play in the economy. It is very important men speak up as well.

As a young person in the parliament, growing up in Australia today, I still find it completely unbelievable that we have pay that is unequal for women, that we do not have the same pay for the same work, based on gender. It is a violation of individual rights, it is a violation of human rights and it is certainly something that we need to see action on within our society—that there is no discrimination based on gender at any level.

I also want to say that mainly the government is focused on domestic violence at the moment, and I think this is perhaps where men have the most critical role to play. We know for a fact in international circles that in conflict, or where there is violence in countries around the world, it is often women or girls who bear the brunt of this awful tragedy and awful violence and it is completely unacceptable. But also within our own country, and within Western democracies, there is a hidden scourge of domestic violence. That is why it is so important that Australia recently launched its Second Action Plan, moving ahead with the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children. This will unite the Australian community to make a significant and sustained reduction in the levels of violence against women and their children. Nothing can be so important, especially when we are celebrating this important achievement in international women's affairs.

In my own electorate, we have the start of a new foundation to end domestic violence, a very important foundation, the Lisa Harnum Foundation. People in Sydney were gripped by the shocking and awful incident involving Lisa Harnum, who was murdered and died tragically when her then fiance, Simon Gittany, threw her from the 15th floor balcony. This really galvanised attitudes in Sydney against domestic violence and hardened people's approach, encouraging men everywhere to stand up against violence against women and other men. Lisa's mother has given permission for this foundation to be established.

Aileen Mountfield, who is setting up this foundation, is looking at new technologies and ways of dealing with domestic violence, allowing women who are in difficult situations to reach for help when they are usually unable to reach for help. As we know from police and other services, women in these very difficult environments with abusive partners, or men who have them under their thumb, are unable to reach out for help or access that help. So the Lisa Harnum Foundation is looking at very advanced ways—ways that we do not discuss in public because they are hidden—of allowing women to access those services. This is really a step forward and I think that is a great tribute to Lisa Harnum and her life and her story.

The Commonwealth has a zero-tolerance approach not just to domestic violence but to issues such as female genital mutilation. We also have a zero-tolerance approach to the marrying of young girls within our own society. This is something we have unfortunately seen, even in Sydney in recent times. Some cultures think it is still acceptable today for an older male to, by force, marry an under-age girl against her will—within our own society. It occurs even to the extent where girls have been forcibly taken from Australia and sent to other countries. This is completely unacceptable as well and something that I think all of us as Australians need to take a stand on.

In 2014 Australia released its first progress report on the Australian National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2012-18. The national action plan is part of Australia's commitment to integrate a gender perspective into peace and security efforts, protect the human rights of women and girls and promote women's participation in conflict prevention, management and resolution. The first progress report shows that we are tracking well. But there is a lot to do.

We hear every day from women in difficult situations in all of our electorates all around the country that violence against women continues at unacceptable levels and in unacceptable ways. Australia is absolutely committed and focused on partnering and supporting all of these efforts, including motions like this in the parliament today, and doing whatever we can to recognise that we face serious challenges, recognising that men have an equal and important role in delivering better outcomes for women and ensuring their individual and human rights are respected. I absolutely endorse and commend this motion to the House.

Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak about International Women's Day. As have others have, I commend the member for Newcastle for her motion. I also commend the speakers who have been in advance of me. All the speeches have been wonderful.

I enjoyed kicking off this International Women's Day week this morning with a breakfast with the Speaker and MPs from Fiji. Our Speaker hosted a breakfast and it was really wonderful to hear about what is happening in Fiji, to hear the progress that they are making. Unfortunately, only 16 per cent of Fiji's parliament is comprised of women. But they have achieved that so far, so let us hope that they will get to 50 per cent in the very near future.

International Women's Day is a celebration of the great achievements of women throughout the world and throughout our history, from women's suffrage to reproductive rights. It is because of the work of giants of women that has taken place in the past that I am able to stand in this chamber and speak today. In this place, I carry the dreams, the work and the sacrifice of other women and I want to thank them. At the time of our Federation, it would have been novel, perhaps inconceivable, that women would stand in this great chamber. It is thanks to many famous, and not so famous, women that I can be here, that we women can be here today. It is also thanks to my working-class matriarchy that I can be here today. It is thanks to my great-grandmother, my grandmother and my mother. It is because of their hard-headed determination and that of others like them that I have been able to run a successful business, sit on boards and be elected to parliament. I want to thank them.

While we have much to celebrate, there is so much more that has to be done. We must continue to fight for equal pay. Australian women are earning less today than they ever have before, when compared with their male colleagues. According to ABS data from August last year, the gender pay gap has soared to above 18 per cent. The data show that male salaries have increased by 2.9 per cent over the past year while, alarmingly, women's salaries have only gone up by 1.9 per cent.

We must also fight to improve the representation of women on boards and in the parliament. Research shows that improving diversity on boards, including increasing the number of women, has a positive impact on the performance of an organisation. I have witnessed this firsthand through the boards I have been a member of, both at the commercial level and at the not-for-profit level.

We must also continue to fight to end violence against women. Violence against women in Australia is a deep-rooted cultural problem; and it is shocking. One in three women in Australia has experienced physical violence, almost one in five has been subjected to sexual assault and one woman is killed by her partner or former partner every week. We have to have a zero tolerance approach and we need to call out family violence when we see it.

I also want to ensure that women have the financial literacy to plan for a comfortable retirement. I often speak with women, many of whom are in the private rental market, are on low incomes and have very limited superannuation. They are facing a bleak retirement. I am worried that too many women have not planned for their future beyond work. I am worried that too many people do not have a plan for their retirement. Since I was elected, I have spoken on many occasions to women and encouraged them to understand how much superannuation they have so they can work out how much they need for their retirement and how much they need to put away each week. Understanding the detail of what they need for their retirement will allow them to better plan for their futures. And as I say to young women all the time, 'A man is not a financial plan.'

Finally, we must work to protect the human rights of all women and girls all around the world. In Afghanistan, we are experiencing a transition at the moment. I am very concerned that the hard-fought-for gains that have been made by the international community, involving the loss of life of many in the international community, will erode, evaporate and amount to nought. I am very concerned that women need to be around the table in the discussions with both the Taliban and the government to ensure that they have a say when they do transition to a post-international community environment. More women need to be sitting around the table negotiating on their futures in Afghanistan, not setting the table, and we need to ensure that those women do not end up being dinner.

We have come a long way in the last 100 years, but our achievements have barely touched many women in developing countries like Afghanistan, where female literacy is still very, very low in many provinces and female and infant mortality is still extraordinarily high. We still need to fight to ensure equal rights and equal opportunities are shared by all our sisters throughout the world.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand today to support the honourable member for Newcastle's motion on International Women's Day, which falls on 8 March—Sunday of this week. I also support statements made by the Hon Julie Bishop:

The empowerment of women and girls is one of the most effective ways to achieve higher economic growth and better living standards among the millions of people in developing countries in our region.

This includes Australia:

On International Women's Day we should take the opportunity to reflect on women's achievements and the challenges they continue to face.

In Western Australia, the first International Women's Day gathering was a public meeting held on 8 March 1938 at the Perth Town Hall. The topic was 'International women of note: their contribution to present day problems.'

The speakers included Dr Roberta Jull, who was the first woman to establish a medical practice in Perth, and Mollie Kingston, who established the first all-women law firm in Western Australia.

In the 77 years since 1938, International Women's Day has been celebrated each year in Western Australia in one form or another. Over the decades, different types of events and different themes have reflected the shifting priorities of the women in our changing world. In 2015, the theme for International Women's Day is 'Standing together for change'.

Today, I am standing together as an equal with the women in my electorate of Hasluck, so I will introduce them to you statistically. In Hasluck, just over 75,000 women completed the census in 2011, making up 50.2 per cent of the population. Of those women, Aboriginal women represented 2.7 per cent. It is interesting to note that 31.3 per cent of women in Hasluck were born overseas. The top five countries of birth for women born overseas were the United Kingdom, New Zealand, India, the Philippines and Malaysia—all very different and diverse. Eighty-one per cent of women spoke only English at home. Fifty per cent of women who are 15 or older are in the labour force, compared to 67 per cent of men. Twenty nine per cent of women in my electorate are undertaking education from pre-primary and primary to tertiary.

I stand together with the women of Hasluck for increased education and labour force participation. Equally, I stand together with the female members of this parliament whose state of origin is Western Australia: foreign minister, the Hon. Julie Bishop; the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women, Senator Michaelia Cash; and coalition whip, the Hon. Nola Marino. All of them have taken strong stances on the need to consider where women have key and significant roles, and ensure they are in the same equal vein of consideration as we give in a disproportionate manner to men. Women represented 49.7 per cent of the total population in WA at the date of the last census in 2011, but they are not 49 per cent of its parliamentarians. I stand together with women in this parliament for higher representation, and to improve the plight of women all around the world.

Last year I became an ambassador for White Ribbon, which is the male-led campaign to end men's violence against women. In Australia, family violence is the principle cause of homelessness for women and their children. I swore the White Ribbon oath on 25 November 2014: never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women. I stand together with the 159,000 Australians who have already sworn the same oath. What is important is that in the discussions around our tables, the boardrooms, the places where we work or in any site that we live in or share within this community of ours, that we develop the capacity of our society to grow the opportunity to focus on women being equals in all aspects of all things that we do, both in economic advancement and in their opportunities—they should never be negated. Things also need to happen at the dinner table, where a daughter is equal to a son, where a father or a husband is equal to his wife, and where our attitude and our words do not distinguish between either.

The message is simple. We are equal and we are together. I am proud to contribute to this debate today, and I am proud to be standing with my fellow parliamentarians for change ahead of International Women's Day on Sunday. I commend this motion to the House.

Debate adjourned.