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

Yesterday, the member for Hughes came into the chamber to question the government's advocacy for women and girls around the world. Her statement was factually incorrect, politically motivated and deeply offensive, so let me set the record straight. The Albanese Labor government has a proud record of advocating for the rights of women and girls both at home and abroad. We believe that the women and girls of Afghanistan deserve the full enjoyment of their human rights. That is why we have taken unprecedented action to hold the Taliban to account for its violation of obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The Albanese government was the first Australian government to sanction Iran for the oppression of women and girls. I remind the member for Hughes that this government successfully advocated to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The former coalition government was silent when Iran was elected to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. For the women and girls in the Middle East, the Albanese government has consistently condemned Hamas for their actions and called for the release of hostages.

In October last year, both houses passed a bipartisan motion that unequivocally condemned the attacks on Israel by Hamas and their targeting of women and girls. It is a shame that the member for Hughes did not pay attention to this important debate at the time. When the foreign minister went to Israel, she met with the chair of Israel's civil commission on the October 7 crimes committed by Hamas against women and children, where she again condemned Hamas's use of sexual violence as a weapon. In this debate, the only hypocrisy comes from the Liberals who refuse to acknowledge the humanitarian crisis Palestinian civilians are facing—men, women, girls and boys.

There is a little girl born today who will never know physical safety, who will never be able to go to school, who will be forced into marriage at 14 and who will not be afforded the opportunities given to little girls in Australia. Her wings will be clipped because of the country she was born in. Grandstanding speeches from the member for Hughes will not help that little girl, won't end the cycle of violence in the Middle East, won't bring justice to women and girls in Afghanistan and won't help women in Iran, but the consistent hard work of this government will.