Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

One of the things that stands out to me each International Women's Day is how corporatised, white-collar and lacking in class politics it has become. It's certainly a long way from its socialist origins. As BBC News was reporting today, the seeds of International Women's Day were planted in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. The following year the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman's Day. The idea to make the day international came from Clara Zetkin, a communist activist and activist for women's rights. Ms Zetkin suggested the idea in 1910 at an international conference of working women in Copenhagen. There were 100 women from 17 countries at the conference, and they agreed to her suggestion unanimously.

Whilst many things have changed for women since 1910, there is still much to be done. The fact of the matter is that women's economic security has a long way to go, and it's worse for women of colour, First Nations women, migrant women, transwomen and those of us who live in regional Australia. The gender pay gap still exists, including with many feminised professions such as midwifery and teaching. Despite women making up 99 per cent of the midwifery workforce, the gender pay gap in that profession still sits at 19 per cent.

The government is forcing women to wait to have 26 weeks of paid parental leave. Just last week the government said they would like to add super to paid parental leave, but the budget can't accommodate it. In my community of Gladstone, women are still driving over 100 kilometres to Rockhampton to give birth, with the maternity unit still on bypass after 243 days. I reckon if men gave birth, this problem would have been sorted yesterday. Now women over 45 are the fastest-growing group who are experiencing homelessness.

It's the same story all over the country. There's always money for stage 3 tax cuts which will overwhelmingly benefit rich blokes, but there is never enough for woman's health, women's super, women's parental leave or women's salaries in feminised industries. We are sick to death of it. This morning on the radio the Treasurer said that Labor's stage 3 tax cuts would go ahead, but the cost-of-living relief for people who are a pay cheque away from homelessness or a meal away from starving would only be possible when inflation is tamed. Go down and tell a homeless woman that. Come up to Gladstone and tell the women they will have to drive over an hour on a potholed highway to give birth. Tell every woman in this country who is paid less than men that they will have to wait. Meanwhile, you will hand out your stage 3 tax cuts to rich blokes. It makes me sick. Happy International Women's Day, everyone.