Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When it comes to the economy, the Libs talk the big game but under the Libs inflation had a six in front of it and it now has a two. We've had two budget surpluses when the Libs had exactly zero—crickets, doughnuts. These surpluses mean we've avoided $80 billion in interest charges over a decade and that means we can build up our financial buffers again. On housing, we've had a housing minister from the get-go. Those opposite had none for at least six years of their decade in office. Is it any wonder that a housing problem morphed into a crisis? Under us, the gender pay gap has been crunched from 14.1 per cent when we came to office to 11.5 per cent now. Under the Libs, it was stuck in neutral going nowhere fast because they deprioritised women. It's closing thanks to wage rises for 2.6 million low-income workers, wage rises for childcare workers and for aged-care workers. We have banned wage secrecy and forced big business to reveal their gender pay gap.

This all happened thanks to a female-dominant government which channels the spirit of a female Prime Minister, who stood at that dispatch box 12 years ago this week and said to those men who were blocking her path, 'Not now, not ever.'