Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment, representing the Minister for Women. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison government is committed to supporting women's economic participation and security, particularly as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chisholm for her question, and for her keen interest in recycling. I was with the member for Chisholm at the Burwood Brickworks, where we launched a national battery recycling scheme, which is incredibly important. I thank her for her leadership.

We know that women have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic, from making up the majority of the casual and part-time workforce to working in the industries that are hardest hit by the lockdowns. However, the economy is making a comeback, and Australian women are very much a part of that comeback. I saw that confidence earlier this month when I visited the production room of Australian fashion industry leader Cue, a family owned business, to talk about sustainability and the Morrison government's million-dollar grant to help the industry recycle textile and clothing waste. Nearly 80 per cent of the 489,000 people who work in Australia's fashion industry, from product to retail, are women. It's an industry that has a physical presence in every local shopping centre in every town across the country. Fashion is one of the few professionally led industries dominated by women along every step of the supply chain, but it doesn't have to be the only one. As the Treasurer reminds us, there are more women in work now than there were before the pandemic began—a positive trend that I know members on all sides of the chamber acknowledge.

I am confident that Australian women will continue to lead the economic recovery, especially as we hit our vaccination target rates and start to reopen. That recovery depends on jobs, and the Morrison government supports women's participation in the workforce in ways that suit their family, suit their circumstances and suit the pathways they choose for their lives and their vocations. The women's budget this year saw us announce measures from education to training, mentoring, entrepreneurship and child care that removed barriers, invited participation and supported women at every age and every stage of work, family and retirement. The Morrison government will continue to back the choices women make and the economic security they create for themselves and for the nation.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.