Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that:

(a) 26 September 2024 marks 30 years since the Australian Labor Party adopted affirmative action quotas for female candidates in held and winnable seats;

(b) the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party has met every quota and target set since its adoption ahead of schedule, including:

(i) 35 per cent by 2002 set in 1994;

(ii) 40 per cent by 2012 set in 2002; and

(iii) 50 per cent by 2025 set in 2015;

(2) notes the Government is the first Commonwealth Government to have a majority of female members, which amongst other accomplishments, has led to:

(a) expanded paid parental leave; and

(b) wage increases for feminised sectors;

(3) on this significant anniversary, pays tribute to the pioneering women who led the fight for this significant change that has placed women at the centre of decision making; and

(4) recommits to the fact that a woman's place is in the House and the Senate.

I rise as the 1,122nd member elected to this House and the 175th woman elected to this House. I rise as the 700th Labor member elected to this House and the 92nd Labor woman elected to this House. I stand here because of the tireless efforts of pioneering women within Australia's oldest political party, who 30 years ago advocated for greater representation within the Labor Party, ensuring that our parties truly reflected the diversity of the community and the nation that we seek to serve.

The pivotal moment came at the 1994 National Conference of the Australian Labor Party, where Labor women successfully championed the cause for gender equality in preselection processes. As the formidable Joan Kirner eloquently said at the 1994 Victorian state Labor conference:

"we can no longer be embarrassed as a party which says that other people have to have equal opportunity, other people mustn't practice discrimination and yet in our pre-selections for seats, we don't practice it ourselves.

Comrades, it is no longer good enough to give women the seats to win them—it is essential that we give women winnable seats"

Since then, the implementation of quotas and targets has led to a significant increase in women's representation within our caucus and this parliament.

Today, I proudly stand as part of Australia's first female majority government, where diverse voices have enabled us to deliver meaningful change for women across the nation—from pay rises for feminised industries to real action to increase workforce participation, from support for women fleeing domestic violence to superannuation being paid on PPL. The legacy of affirmative action within the Labor Party is a testament to the perseverance and the dedication of countless women who paved the way for future generations.

While time constraints prevent me from acknowledging each individual, I must pay tribute to my predecessor in the electorate of Lalor, Julia Gillard, our first female Prime Minister, whose leadership paved the way for more women into politics and into this parliament. As a born and bred westie of Melbourne, I'm proud to be from a part of the world that is also home to glass-ceiling breakers such as Victoria's first female premier, Joan Kirner, and the first female attorney-general, Nicola Roxon. I also want to pay tribute to two remarkable women I am lucky to call not only colleagues but also friends: Tanya Plibersek, the member for Sydney, who this year became the longest-serving female Labor member of parliament, and Minister Wong, who this year became the longest-serving female cabinet minister in Australian history.

The success of affirmative action within the Labor Party is undeniable. In the 92 years between Federation and these reforms, only 28 Labor women had been elected to this parliament. In the 30 years since, 109 Labor women have been elected. That's three times the number of Labor women elected in less than a third of the time. If you look at our gender equal government, you will also see enhanced inclusion reflected in terms of faith, ethnicity and prior life experience, because if you break one ceiling, you break others.

As we celebrate the progress made within our own ranks, it is disheartening to see fewer women on the coalition benches than when I joined this parliament. In fact, while Labor has gone from strength to strength since 1994, in this parliament the Liberal Party has recorded its lowest female representation since 1993, something that disheartens us on this side. It is a stark reminder that the fight for gender equality is far from over.

I look forward to celebrations tonight to honour the legacy of those who came before us in fighting for affirmative action in the ALP and paved the way for the future generations of women I sit alongside today in the Albanese Labor government. In case anyone needs reminding, a woman's place is in the House and in the Senate. I commend this motion to this House.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

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

I rise very happily to second this motion moved by my good friend and fierce advocate for Labor women, the member for Lalor. I stand very proudly as a Labor woman elected to this parliament and a member of Australia's first ever female majority government.

This significant milestone in our nation's history didn't happen overnight and didn't happen by accident. Almost 30 years ago, on 26 September 1994, only 32 of Australia's then 225 parliamentarians were women and women made up only 14 per cent of the federal parliamentary Labor caucus. That's when the Australian Labor Party made the historic decision to introduce quotas for women. Affirmative action quotas were designed to give more opportunities to women, build our capacity at all levels and improve the culture of politics within the Australian Labor Party.

The first quota was set at 35 per cent for women to be preselected into the held and winnable seats. Crucially, at the same time it was agreed that there would be a sanction applied if this was not met. If the quota wasn't achieved, preselections would be overturned and the nomination process would start again. This sanction has been critical to the success of affirmative action, and it is closely protected to this day. In 2002 the quota was increased to 40 per cent by 2012. In 2015, we went to 50 per cent by 2025. Guess what? It is now 2024 and we've smashed that target. We smashed it two years ago. Every time we've set a target, Labor has exceeded it and delivered it ahead of time. We know that quotas work. The evidence is there for everyone to see. We have Australia's first female majority government and parliaments right across Australia are teaming with strong, smart, capable women making smart choices for Australia and for women.

Not only did affirmative action get more talented people elected but it changed the culture of our party for the better too. It also changed the outlook for Australian women. Labor governments have always worked hard for women, and we are proud of the decades of accomplishments. They're too long to list them all, but we value people who work in the care economy these days, we are improving women's safety, we've addressed a stubborn gender pay gap in this country that existed for so long, we have a strategy to address gender inequality in Australia for the first time in our history, and we've made women's health a priority. We know that there's much more to do, and that's why we've got a laser focus on gender equity in this nation, and we are committed to working hard every single day.

But, as I mentioned, women's participation in politics didn't just happen overnight, and neither did that list of achievements. They came off the back of decades of hard work by so many women that came before us. There were women like Dorothy Tangney, the first Labor woman to be elected into the federal parliament in 1943 and the first woman in the Senate; Joan Child, who was the first deputy speaker in 1984 and the first female Speaker in 1986; Julia Gillard, Australia's first and to date only female Prime Minister; and, in this 47th Parliament, Linda Burney, who became the first Indigenous woman to be elected into the House of Representatives in 2016; and Tanya Plibersek, the member for Sydney, who was first elected in 1998 and is the longest serving woman in this House. There are many in the other house, of course, with a lot of firsts as well, but these are just a few of our Labor women firsts.

These are things we are proud of. We do not take them for granted, however. We know that the women who worked so hard to pave the way before us—all of those Labor firsts and all of those Labor women champions that worked behind the scenes—would never stop and rest up, thinking: 'Oh, job done! We can all go and rest now!' We know this not to be true. We are forever vigilant about the issues of gender equality in our parliament, in our party and in our nation, because women's representation matters. It strengthens our communities and it strengthens our democracies. We know as Labor women our place is not simply in the House and the Senate. It's in the cabinet and it's in every place where decisions are made.

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

I am very pleased to speak on the Chief Government Whip's motion in this place, because it is an important motion. This place needs to reflect the diversity, the wonderful mixture that is Australian society. But, more than that, this place should be a beacon of equality and opportunity. The Labor Party has made decisions over the last decades to ensure that we achieve that, and obviously we have more work to do. But I also want to say this: as a male member of the Labor Party it is important that we are also a part of ensuring that institutions like the Labor Party have opportunities and are seeking talent from all different corners of our society, because if we do not have the inherent structures like quota systems then what will happen is the inherent biases that live within each of us will rise to the top.

We all look for ourselves in representation. We all look for ourselves to try and pursue all of the opportunities in this place and in different institutions. But the Labor Party has made a different choice thanks to the strong and fierce women that have made up the leadership of our party and that make up the rank and file of our party as well. They said that we can't just look like we have done for the last 100 years; we need to look in new places and we need to ensure that women are better represented and are a part of the decision-making of our party. We know what it looks like if we don't do that. If we don't create the opportunities and the quotas and the structures where we actually seek out and lift the talent and provide opportunity, and find talented, smart and fierce women to be a part of our structures, what does that look like? It looks like the modern Liberal Party. Not one Liberal Party member is speaking on this motion. And, despite the fact that there are smart, talented Liberal women who should be promoted, each and every time, there are inherent biases that the preselectors of the Liberal Party choose to hold onto as opposed to ensuring that there is a quota system of women. I know that there are Liberal Party women who are pushing for change. I think that that is an important thing, and it mustn't be an easy task.

It is a fact that quotas not only work but remove the ability to apply those inherent biases that, frankly, the blokes of the Labor Party were looking at for too long. They ensure that people are given opportunity when they should be. People like to talk about merit. I am proud of the merit that we have on this side. We have such fierce, smart, strong and articulate colleagues who are representing their communities and fighting for policies that make our country stronger. The fact that we have set targets to achieve gender equity makes our party stronger. It makes our party stronger because we see more of what the Australian people need. We, as the Labor Party, are not at our best if we have big blind spots. How can you seek to represent the population if half your representatives do not reflect that? How can we seek opportunity for the Australian people and for Australian women if we are not even willing to provide opportunities to Labor women to rise through the ranks and become senior members of our party? But that is not the choice that we made. It isn't just because of these quota systems that that has happened; it is because of the tireless effort of strong, fierce and smart Labor women over decades and of party structures committed to the promotion and the equity that we seek for Labor women and for all women in this country.

That is why I am proud to stand alongside a caucus where over half of us are women representing over half the population. That is how it should be, because we cannot be what we cannot see. Without that we cannot be the party that is there to promote things and policies like ensuring that women are able to return to the workforce or that their pay is on an equitable basis to that of men. We have to be better than that, and where it starts is in our own backyard. Affirmative action works. We are proud of our equity, and I'm proud to be a member of a party that has promoted so many amazing women.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I actually hadn't intended to speak on this motion, but, having listened to the speakers on the other side, I thought it would be appropriate for me to put on the record some positions that I have long held in this place. If you can just bear with me while I am briefly self-indulgent, I graduated from university with a degree in mechanical engineering, which I am incredibly proud of, and I have always considered myself to be an engineer first and foremost. Of course, back then there were significantly fewer women undertaking engineering studies than there are now. There's been some movement but clearly not enough.

I have spent my entire life working in male dominated industries and fighting to make sure that women are treated equally and given the opportunities that boys and men have. That was clearly a much easier task in engineering because, if you could do the work, it was not an issue. When you went onto the factory floor, you were treated very equally based on your ability to do the job. As I moved through my second career, which was in industrial relations, I experienced similar issues to those I had experienced in engineering, where, as long as I could do the job, I was generally accepted and allowed to do what I needed to do.

My third career has been—is—politics. When I first was elected as the member for McPherson, there were clearly discussions about making sure that there was greater representation of women in parliament, and issues of quotas or targets have been discussed by the coalition for many, many years. Initially I have to say: I have always been opposed to quotas, because I never wanted to be considered to have been appointed into a role for any reason other than my ability to do the job.

What I have seen over the last decade at least has made me soften my views on opposing quotas. My concern is that the parliament of Australia needs to be a parliament that truly reflects the people of Australia, and that means that there are a number of groups, for want of a better way of describing them, that need representation within the parliament. One significant group is women, and, when I look at this side of the House and I look at the female representation that we have here, I am absolutely convinced that we need to do better. We need to make sure that we are doing all that we can to promote this as a workplace that is desirable for women to enter. We need to promote it, from the coalition's point of view, in my view, as a welcoming place for women to be part of.

Historically, we have always been of the view that you get preselected based on merit, but sometimes you look around and you think, 'Well, maybe merit only applies in certain circumstances!' and that, basically, 'merit' and the appointment of people 'on merit' are often used to stop women from progressing. So what I would like to see is that there is an openness to and an understanding of the issues that we face. One of those is to make sure that we recognise that there is a need to ensure that we have more women sitting in parliament.

I have stated publicly on many occasions that I think that the preselection processes of my own party need to be looked at to make sure that there is opportunity for all people to put their hands up to be preselected as a member of this parliament, and to represent a political party if they choose to do so, or, if they choose, to be an Independent. What I have said before and I say again is that, if we want to make change here, we cannot simply cross our fingers and hope that things are going to change without us taking positive action, because doing that in the past has been an abject failure.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for McPherson, and I'll say that it was a privilege to hear that.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Affirmative action is more straightforward and powerful than we might think. Action to affirm the rights, abilities and potential of all human beings makes a better Australia and a better world for everybody. Some people are lucky enough to get affirmative action from birth—and I consider myself lucky in that way. They receive encouragement, and pathways to achievement are clear and open to them. But there are those who are given very different messages and very rocky roads. When they are discouraged, we all lose. We need people of ability, with contributions to make, to be speaking and doing so loud and clear, not muttering in corners.

For centuries, women were told that the halls of power were not for them, unless they happened to be born into a ruling family—and even then, a male was almost always preferred. All sorts of decisions were made without hearing or even considering women's opinions or perspectives.

Thirty years ago, our party, the Australian Labor Party, decided that waiting for this to improve wasn't good enough; it was time to act. That's always been a fundamental Labor principle: we don't sit around telling Australians that it will all work out in the end, in some mysterious way; we take action. It is our job and our responsibility. Successful people everywhere know that you have to set goals and targets along the way. Any person with a dream needs a plan to make it happen.

It was a different world back in 1994. The first goal then was to have a female candidate in 35 per cent of all held and winnable seats by 2002. Labor achieved that in 2004. But we were already on the move with a new goal. Back in 2002, we understood there was no going back. The answer was more determination and higher goals. We decided then that, by 2012, 40 per cent of held and winnable seats should have female candidates. After the federal election of 2013, 40 per cent of the Labor caucus were women. This was a percentage to be dreamed of by most parties in most nations around the world, and there was plenty who dismissed it as silly—an impossible dream.

In 2015 the ALP national conference adopted a new target: half of all our MPs and senators should be women by 2025, and that was achieved at the election of 2022. It is difficult to say this without strong personal emotion because I was one of those new members of parliament who are part of this great milestone. I want all women, all the students up there in the gallery, whatever your political views and allegiances, to be able to experience the intense mixture of emotions of being sworn in here to serve this country. It's a profound sense of duty and responsibility that is almost overwhelming.

Being part of a group of women now representing the people of Australia on equal terms for the first time is thrilling. For Labor this is happening in parliaments across the land. Now 50.2 per cent of all Labor members of parliament are women. Would it have happened anyway, just part of an ordinary everyday evolution? Well, let's see. We don't have far to look, just across the chamber. The Liberal Party in this parliament, sadly, is going backwards with its lowest percentage of female representation in 30 years. How can I say this gently? You are heading the wrong way.

In March this year Labor launched Working for Women, a strategy for gender equality. The strategy has goals and targets in five priority areas: women's safety, valuing care, women's economic equality, health, and decision-making and leadership. It is not a set of feel-good words; it is a statement of commitments with a track record to prove they can and will be achieved. Already the consequences of achieving parity are self-evident. The conversations change, priorities shift and funding gets committed. Here is just a sample of what can be achieved in two years: pay increases in industries overwhelmingly dominated by women, including in aged care; a tax cut for every female taxpayer, with 90 per cent of women now better off; modernising and expanding paid parental leave to 26 weeks by 2025; cheaper child care—families to have more choice over their childcare arrangements; a $56.1 million women's health package, with 22 endometriosis clinics now open; a $4.7 billion national plan for preventing family violence; and 10 days paid domestic violence leave.

I represent the electorate of Hasluck—all, not just 50 per cent. I am proud to say that, thanks to affirmative action, the debate about whether women should be reflected in this place as proportionate representation in parliament is done.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand on the shoulders of my sisters, and I would like to thank the member for Lalor for bringing this important motion to the House. It is important to celebrate the wins and the significant progress we have made. On 26 September 2024, we will celebrate 30 years since the Australian Labor Party implemented affirmative action quotas for women in winnable seats. In my mind, people see quotas as a dirty word but I see it as setting a smart goal—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. That is clearly what we have done.

In 1994 we set a target of 35 per cent women candidates and we met that target, so, in 2002, the target was raised to 40 per cent by 2012 and again we met the target. Then in 2015, we set the ambitious target of 50 per cent by 2025 and we smashed that glass ceiling ahead of time. I am proud to be part of a women-majority government. For the first time in Australian history, 50.2 per cent of all Labor members in the Australian parliament are women. And I am also proud to stand here as the first female member for Swan in 101 years.

As I said, we stand on the shoulders of our sisters, and we owe so much to trailblazers like Jenny Macklin, the first woman to become the deputy leader of a majority party, and Julia Gillard, who made history not only as the first female deputy prime minister but as Australia's first female prime minister in 2010. I'd also like to recognise Senator Penny Wong, who, in 2013, became the first woman to serve as Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate and the first female Leader of the Government in the Senate. These women not only broke barriers but continue to inspire and lead the next generation of women in politics.

Recently, I had the privilege of hosting a round table of women in my electorate with Senator Penny Wong. She met with local leaders who were recognised at the 2024 Swan International Women's Day Awards. As the first female member for Swan, I wanted to recognise the amazing women in the seat of Swan, and this included Michele Burton from the Perth Football Club; Dr Parwinder Kaur, a DNA scientist; Chloe Perez, a high school student; Maryann Tsai from Reach Her; Sobia Shah from Professional Migrant Women's Network; Joan Sutherland from the Haven; and Alicia Curtis from 100 Women. Senator Wong spoke about quiet courage, the behind-the-scenes work that often goes unnoticed yet is essential for change, and that's why I wanted to recognise these amazing women on International Women's Day—for their quiet courage and relentless work to make our community a better place.

Today, I also want to acknowledge the quiet courage in the context of affirmative action. I want to recognise the rank-and-file women—the women in Labor branches and on conference floors—who fought for these changes when I was 14 years old so that, 30 years later at the age of 44, I'd get to stand here and be a part of this majority female caucus. They had difficult conversations, they showed up when it mattered and they found talented women to run. It wasn't easy; it was hard, but they fought the good fight. Men and women worked together with quiet courage to lay the foundation of where we stand today.

I remember when I ran for preselection for the first time and I met a woman called Sue Bowers. She had known me for 10 minutes, but her support for me was astounding, and it left a profound effect on me. What it made me realise is that there are people that will use their power to raise your voice and to elevate you, and that's what we are doing here as members of the government. We want to raise the voices of women to make sure that we make meaningful change for all the women in our electorate. Standing alongside our allies in the Labor Party, we will continue to raise the voices of women and work towards a more equal and just society, and this will be reflected in every decision that we make.

As we celebrate this 30-year milestone, let us honour the pioneering women who led the charge of affirmative action and recommit our belief that a woman's place, without question, is in the House, in the Senate and in the cabinet. I fully support this motion, and I encourage every member of the House to do so.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Lalor, the second woman to hold that seat, for bringing this important motion to the House today. In 1994, at a Labor conference in Hobart, something remarkable happened: history was made when the party rules were changed to include affirmative action targets for the first time, which were initially set at 35 per cent. It's incredible, too, that one of the people present and a fierce advocate for the rule change, Julia Gillard, would become the first woman member for Lalor and, of course, the first female prime minister.

Over time, there have been adjustments to the quota, and I'm pleased to have played a very small part in working with women in the Victorian branch of the Labor Party and as a conference delegate to advocate for an increase to these targets. When we set targets, we met them, which shows that quotas work and that, if political parties are serious about gender equality and party rooms that look like our communities, then this is a path that should be pursued.

The federal parliamentary Labor Party has met every quota and target set ahead of schedule since their adoptions, including 35 per cent initially, then 40 per cent and then 50 per cent. We now have a government comprising more than 50 per cent women. This did not happen by accident. It happened because of the hard work of so many women who have contributed to the Australian Labor Party. While it was the achievement of those who were there at that conference 30 years ago, when that affirmative action was implemented in our party rules, the contributions of so many others—many of whom history has failed to record or remember—led to that change being possible at that point in time, too. I want to acknowledge some of those unsung heroines in our party's history.

Because we are a party of the collective and of struggle, we know that we work together through hard times as well as good to realise meaningful change. This change—affirmative action—has meant that our government now resembles the communities we represent in this place, which is vital for a model of government and parliament like ours in Australia. In my first speech I spoke about Joan Child, the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as the first Labor woman to be elected to this place. I've always found it absolutely staggering that it took until 1974 for that achievement to be realised upon her election as the Labor member for Henty. It took too long. That 20 years after that we could implement affirmative action and that 30 years later we can now say we have a majority female government shows that change can start slowly but that a small step can turn into large strides. It is an honour to be part of a Labor government and a Labor Party that places gender equality at the heart of all that we do so that our communities and our country are reflected in this place and that the doors of opportunity are open to everyone.

Gender equality in representative politics is meaningful. It delivers paid parental leave, measures to close the gender pay gap such as paying workers in female-dominated sectors a fair wage, and having an equal-pay principle at the heart of our industrial relations system. It delivers cheaper early education and care so that more women can make the decision to enter or re-enter the workforce. It delivers a focus on women's health, on workplaces where women are respected, equal and safe and legislated accountability when they are not. This is scratching the surface. A gender lens on the budget and on legislation means that we have better legislation and better spending programs.

Of course, the work is not done. There's so much to do so that the horrific rates of gendered violence are reduced and eventually eliminated. We need to do more to address the gender pay gap, particularly its impacts on women in retirement. We need to make sure that women are more-equally represented in all sectors and at decision-making tables, that there is intersectionality in that representation, and that we see women from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences playing a part in decision-making processes.

But it is important to pause to note the achievements made so far. I am so grateful to the work of the many women, including Julia Gillard, who delivered our affirmative action rules, and it is a privilege to mark 30 years of affirmative action as a member of the House of Representatives. I commend this motion to the House.

Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the significant contribution from the member for McPherson today. I can only imagine the discussions and debates that are happening in your party room around this issue. I think it's important that, given your extensive experience in male-dominated work places, you are such a strong voice not only in this place but also outside of here on the importance of greater female representation. I applaud you and I hope that, for the sake of our parliament, the arguments you make are persuasive to your party.

We are here to celebrate 30 years of affirmative action in the Labor Party. I know that it was a hotly contested debate and I can't imagine how difficult some of those discussions would have been for the women who have come before me. To the member for McPherson, I hope you keep having those discussions, because I imagine that the path that you pave in your party room will help women who come after you, as they have helped me within the Labor Party. I have no doubt that me being a federal member of parliament, representing the Labor Party, was only possible because of the women who were brave enough to be part of those discussions more than 30 years ago. It is because of them that the party truly recognises the important role that women have to play as elected representatives. I am indebted to them and really grateful that we have this opportunity to celebrate the amazing work that they have done and the achievements that have come after them.

The biggest achievement is one that I get to be part of, and that is a majority female federal government, the first in our country's history. That I get to be part of that brings me such joy, and it's something that I will truly treasure. When I look around the benches here, I see that I am surrounded by some incredible female members of this caucus. It is amazing what has been achieved as a result of having the first majority female federal government. For us, on this side of the House, it's not enough to have more women in this place; it's about what we then do with that. It has been extraordinary to see the incredible strides that we have been able to take on the point of gender equality.

I just want to look at one policy issue in particular, and that is around the government paid parental leave scheme. This scheme was introduced more than a decade ago by a Labor government, and it has taken a Labor government to improve that scheme. I benefited from the first government paid parental leave scheme when I had my son eight years ago, and it's with great pride that I now am in a government that is helping to improve that paid parental leave scheme. We are increasing it to 26 weeks by 2026. Importantly, there is a provision in there where we have set aside a portion of that paid parental leave scheme to be used by the other parent, to really encourage fathers to step up and take a greater parenting role. That's the point of having more female representatives—it is not just good for women; it is good for our society.

There are big societal shifts that are happening, and I think good governments reflect what is happening in society. I want to give you one example of that. On International Women's Day this year I went to a construction company in my electorate; they had invited me to speak there. I talked about the fact that we have this newly improved paid parental leave scheme. A man put his hand up and said, 'When my daughter was born, I took an entire year off to look after her, and it was the best year of my life.' So these shifts in society are happening. Good governments reflect that change, and that's exactly what we're doing.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

26 September marks 30 years since the Australian Labor Party adopted affirmative action quotas for women to be preselected as candidates in held and winnable seats. I'm very pleased to be standing here as part of a majority female government caucus. Every quota and target since their adoption by the party has been met. In 1994, the ALP National Conference set a quota of 35 per cent female candidates by 2002. The caucus was made up of 35 per cent women following the 2004 election. In 2002, this was lifted to 40 per cent by 2012, and we hit that in the 2013 election. In 2015, the ALP National Conference adopted a target of 50 per cent women MPs and senators by 2025, and this was achieved at the 2022 election. The federal caucus is currently around 53 per cent female, and across the parliaments of Australia 50.2 per cent of all Labor elected members of parliament are women. We look like the communities that we represent.

This stands in contrast to the parties that form the coalition, with the Liberals at 33.2 per cent, the Nationals at 33.3 per cent and the Leader of the Opposition's own party, the LNP, at just 17.6 per cent. Indeed, the Liberal Party, in the 47th parliament, have recorded their lowest female representation in parliament since 1993, and it's gone backwards since 2015, when they set a target of 50 per cent female representation. I think it's telling and, frankly, sad that no members of those parties opposite chose to speak on this important matter today. I hope that they're sitting in their offices—

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Karen Andrews is here.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My apologies, Member for McPherson—thank you. I hope that they are sitting in their offices reflecting on how this looks and how this shows their lack of commitment to gender equity—present company excepted.

Labor's commitment has led to a history of firsts for women: the first woman to be deputy leader of a major party, former member for Jagajaga Jenny Macklin; the first woman to be Deputy Prime Minister, Prime Minister and leader of a major party, former member for Lalor Julia Gillard; the first woman to be Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate and Leader of the Government in the Senate, and the longest-serving female cabinet minister, Senator Penny Wong; the longest-serving woman elected to federal parliament, the member for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek; the first Indigenous woman elected to the Senate, former senator Nova Peris; the first Indigenous woman elected to the House of Representatives, the member for Barton, Linda Burney; and the first female Attorney-General, former member for Gellibrand Nicola Roxon.

In the Labor Party, I'm pleased to say that the debate about whether and how to include women is done. Around our table, over 50 per cent of us are women, and there is 100 per cent support for making sure we continue to include talented, experienced women in every aspect of life and in all of our policies. The key to this change over time has been affirmative action applying to all positions within the party: conferences, administrative committees, party office positions and candidates for public office. It is a broad culture change across the party that has delivered a better outcome. You won't achieve more women in public office without giving women more opportunity, experience and exposure at those other positions within the party.

Arguably, better representation at the parliamentary level has delivered better outcomes for women, who make up 51 per cent of the population across the country. We have a record low gender pay gap of 11.5 per cent. Of course, the correct gender pay gap is zero, but the downward trend is as a result of deliberate policies implemented by this government, and they've delivered some welcome results: cheaper child care, paid domestic violence leave, pay rises for minimum-wage workers and low-paid feminised industries, the expansion of paid parental leave, fairer tax cuts that left 90 per cent of women better off and prac payments for nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students, the majority of whom are female. We've opened 22 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across Australia for the one in seven women who suffer from this debilitating condition, and, of course, we have a gender lens on the entire budget.

As we recognise the amazing gains that the commitment to affirmative action in the Labor Party has delivered, we recognise that we still have a long way to go in the broader society. But I'd like to thank those members from 30 years ago who recognised the problem—representation—and did something about it. Women belong in the House, in the Senate and in the cabinet, and I'd encourage those opposite to do the same.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.