Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I am pleased to respond to the ministerial statement made by the Minister for the Status of Women reflecting on some of the themes and actions around International Women's Day 2012. International Women's Day is an opportunity for us to reflect on the amazing achievements that have been made for women and by women. Whilst we have much to celebrate in Australia in terms of female empowerment, there is still a way to go and much of that is attitudinal and cultural change. In Australia, women are still fighting to close the gender pay gap which, despite the government's continued rhetoric that it is taking steps to address this, is currently at a 30-year high. Women retire with 40 per cent less superannuation than men; one in three will still experience domestic violence; and one in five, sexual violence. Australian debates in relation to female empowerment have centred, quite rightly, around issues including the number of women on corporate boards, statutory paid parental leave and costly child care. Whilst none of these issues are trivial, the circumstances and the battles for women in the developing world including our Pacific neighbours are far greater and far graver and the choices those women must make far different from those made by us here in Australia.

While Australian women were granted the right to vote in 1902, Kuwaiti women were fighting for this right up until 2005. Up to 100,000,000 women are missing in the world at any time. In India, a bride is burned approximately once every two hours. In the United Arab Emirates, husbands have a state-sanctioned right to beat their wives in order to discipline them provided that the beating is not so severe as to damage her bones or deform her body. In Afghanistan women cannot walk alone on the streets without being harassed and, in January this year, 15-year-old Afghani child-bride Saha Gul, was in a critical condition after being rescued by police from her husband and his family who had mutilated and tortured her after she refused prostitution to earn extra income.

Closer to home, UN women reported last year that countries in the Asia-Pacific region record some of the most horrendous statistics of violence against women in the world. For example, in Papua New Guinea, 44 per cent of women have experienced sexual violence in relationships, 55 per cent of women had been forced into sex against their will, and 58 per cent of women have experienced physical and emotional abuse in relationships.

The coalition holds the view that as people living in a free and democratic society, we have a fundamental obligation to speak out and protect the human rights of women both here in Australia and overseas. I am proud to say that the coalition has a strong record when it comes to female empowerment. When the coalition gains government at the next election, we will introduce a comprehensive paid parental leave scheme. The coalition scheme will provide real time and real money to working women offering eligible women 26 weeks at their replacement wage of up to $75,000 per annum.

The coalition celebrates successful women and their economic empowerment and recognises that paid parental leave is a work entitlement rather than a welfare benefit. Employees are entitled to sick, carers, annual, bereavement and public holiday leave at their actual salary amount, and paid parental leave should be no different. Australia is the only country with a Paid Parental Leave scheme entirely based on a minimum wage. According to the Productivity Commission's report on paid parental leave, there are at least 37 nations around the world that introduced a paid parental leave scheme prior to the launch of Labor's minimum wage scheme, and of those schemes, 35 were based on full- or part-replacement wage.

The coalition's Paid Parental Leave scheme reflects world's best practice and ensures that Australia does not have a competitive disadvantage. Unlike the Labor government scheme, the coalition PPL scheme includes superannuation, which is an important step in addressing the chronic disparity between male and female retirement incomes. Labor's failure to include superannuation in their PPL scheme is a sign that they are disingenuous when it comes to addressing the chronic disparity between male and female retirement incomes and will further entrench the financial disadvantage of women who choose to have children. If the government were truly committed to pursuing gender equality, they would match the coalition's commitment to mandatory superannuation contributions as a component of their Paid Parental Leave scheme. With the average life expectancy of women being higher than men, it is important that women are not penalised with lower retirement savings for having children.

Under the Howard government, the coalition recognised that when you live in a globalised community, introducing policies at a local and national level that empower women is only the beginning. As a developed country, we have an obligation to take steps to advance gender equality and, in turn, empower women in the developing world, and the 2006 Australian government white paper on overseas aid recognised this. The achievements of the Howard government and the policies of a future Abbott government are testament to the commitment of the Liberal Party more broadly when it comes to recognising, protecting and enhancing the position of, and opportunities for, Australian women.

I am proud to be part of a political party that understands that women in developing countries especially need strong leaders to agitate for the economic empowerment of women. That is why the opposition announced on International Women's Day that a future coalition government will provide a guaranteed minimum of 1,000 places for women at risk and their dependants within Australia's annual humanitarian intake. We will ensure that Australia's refugee and humanitarian resettlement program provides places to those we can help most and to those who are in most need. Women at risk and their dependants waiting in camps and in other desperate places offshore are among the most vulnerable of all who seek a better life in Australia. They have neither the means nor the opportunity to escape their circumstances. This group will be given a very high priority by a future coalition government in Australia's refugee and humanitarian Settlement Services Program.

In closing, may I strongly support the words of Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, when she stated:

Unleashing women’s economic potential will make economic growth and recovery faster and more equitable. Economic empowerment makes other rights possible for women.

Question agreed to.