Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Tyrrell for her question and agree with her about the need to improve women's superannuation balances. This has been a key priority. I know Senator McAllister has worked on this in previous parliamentary terms while chairing a very important Senate committee inquiry into this specific matter and into women's retirement incomes more generally. This is something the Treasurer, I and others across the government have said we want to do when we are in a position to do it. I would point out to Senator Tyrrell that the budget is still forecasting across the forward estimates deficits. We did have a very significant improvement and we are very pleased with the outcome of the first surplus in 15 years. That will help us repair the budget. It will help with our debt management, meaning we'll have to borrow less and pay less interest, so it will have flow-on impacts across the budget years. But the budget still has more pressures coming towards it than away from it, if I can put it that way. These are matters that we look at carefully. You've seen in the first two budgets our commitment to addressing some of the economic inequality that women face. We're doing it in terms of industrial relations reform. Part of the issue is that women earn less, so if we can increase wages, that flows on into their superannuation balances, as does having flexible work arrangements that allow women to participate and earn money, particularly through their caring years, and particularly with the motherhood penalty that women pay. All these areas are before the government. I think we've put a pretty good down payment on some of the initiatives, but there is more work to do. This is something the Labor Party has been looking at and will continue to look at, and, when we can, we will do it.