Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

As we mark International Women's Day, we also commemorate 50 years since a woman was first appointed to lead an Australian government agency and we celebrate her 90th birthday. I welcome Marie Coleman to the Senate. Marie's effectiveness as head of the Victorian Council of Social Service saw the Whitlam government appoint her to lead the newly created Social Welfare Commission. She was then Director of the Office of Childcare under the Fraser government, achieving major expansions in child care. Establishing the National Foundation for Australian Women, she campaigned unremittingly for paid parental leave. She deployed her experience navigating government to secure a Productivity Commission referral, shifting perceptions of paid parental leave as a social welfare issue to its correct framing as an economic reform. This strategy was decisive and the Labor government, of which I was a part, legislated paid parental leave in 2010. Senator Barbara Pocock, along with academic colleagues, also played a role. I am grateful she could join me here today in recognising Marie's contribution.

Those of us who've been the first of something must always be mindful of ensuring we are not the last. Marie Coleman lives by that. She has supported women to build on what she started. She is a generous mentor to many, including to me in my early years here. She is someone whose work has benefited all Australian women, someone of whom we can truly say 'because of her, we can'. Marie, thank you for a lifetime struggle for all of us. You deserve a much longer tribute, but for now I wish you joyous celebrations of your 90th birthday and many happy returns yet.

Honourable senators: Hear, hear!