Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is bizarre, to say the least, to hear opposition senators come into this place and talk about the 'Morrison recession', as we just heard Senator O'Neill mention. Obviously this is an issue which has gone right through the Labor Party. Dr Chalmers yesterday sent around an email talking about the 'Morrison recession' as if the COVID-19 crisis didn't exist. Now, the budget papers during the week revealed that, yes, the Australian economy has shrunk by seven per cent in the June quarter. That compares to a 20 per cent reduction in the UK and 12 per cent in New Zealand, so this is the global recession that the Labor Party don't seem to be able to come to terms with and that is inflicting damage upon the world's economy. Given that this discussion is about women, I will now turn to that matter.

This budget is about improving the economic standing of this country and improving the standing of all the citizens of Australia. Yes, our whole economic response to this pandemic has been to try to be as broad based as possible. We've spent $100 billion on the JobKeeper scheme, and that has kept businesses afloat. It's kept people in their jobs. It's kept people alive.

We can talk about the issues that have been raised during this motion to take note. As I say, the budget is based on a rising tide lifting all boats, 'all boats' being the Australian people. But of course there is a gender pay gap, which under our government, leading into this pandemic, is the lowest it has been on record, and so there is a recognition across our government that there is a need to deploy measures to deal with some of the issues that women, in particular, face. In relation to child care, which is often raised, I have never seen this as an issue for women. It's an issue for families. It is an issue for men and women. It's an issue for everyone. And so solving child care is not solving something which is a problem that should only accrue to women. It is something that families need to work together on, and I don't see this issue as just falling into women's bucket. But across the board we have deployed measures in this budget which deal directly with some of the shortcomings in our economy.

One of the roles I'm performing in this place is chairing an inquiry into fintech. During that inquiry it has become clear that there is a need for us to do more training and to spend more time, more effort and more resources ensuring that women have the skills to run tech businesses and to be successful in the tech space. And so in this budget we have deployed $25 million into STEM cadetships for women. We've also put money into boosting enterprise amongst women, with 280-odd startups expected to be created because of this scheme. In the course of this inquiry it's been a great pleasure to meet many founders and CEOs of fintech and regtech businesses who are women. There are many of them that are successful already, and we want to see more and more businesses in this space.

In this budget a number of recommendations of the fintech committee have been adopted. The research and development tax incentive recommendations have been adopted. There have also been changes to the fringe benefits tax arrangements that will be forthcoming. All of these things are designed, of course, to improve the amount of private investment into the tech space where men and women work, but we do want to see more women in this space, which is why we're deploying the STEM scheme. I reflect on some of the interactions that we've had at the committee, where there have been some brilliant women who've come up with a tech idea, gone into the market and established these businesses. They're now deploying things in the buy-now, pay-later sector and whatnot. This is a great tribute to female enterprise, but we do want to see more, so we are trying to provide some positive discrimination here in this field.

I summarise my comments by saying this is a budget for all Australians. The rising tide does lift all boats.