Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting the parliamentary screening of the Australian documentary UnderCover with my colleagues the member for Moncrieff and, in the other place, Senator Pocock. The film was directed by a Macnamara resident that we are very proud of, Sue Thomson. It is a credit to her tireless advocacy and work in putting together a really remarkable film.

Under Cover is timely and powerful. It highlights women over 50, who are the fastest-growing cohort of people experiencing homelessness and housing stress in Australia. We heard stories from incredible women who had experienced homelessness—women like Margaret, who dedicated her life to raising children and now finds herself sleeping in a van, hoping to find a safe place to stop for the night.

Sadly, Margaret's story is not uncommon in Australia. There is much work that we all need to do to address this crisis, but I am proud to be part of a government that has placed women's economic security and housing on top of the agenda. I'm proud of the recent announcement that we made to ensure that superannuation will be paid to paid parental leave, because women like Margaret should not be punished for taking time out of work to care for children. I'm proud of the work we're doing to close the gender pay gap and I'm proud of the work we're doing to lift the wages of women around the country. Under Cover is available on ABC iview, and I highly recommend watching.