Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

Unlike Senator Wong, I did not know Dr Crowley personally, but her contribution and the contribution of her peers at that time in this parliament deeply shaped my own thinking about Labor, its purpose and the role of women in the Australian Labor Party. I think that is true for many of the women of my generation. Rosemary had a life of firsts. She was a foundation member of the South Australian Mental Health Review Tribunal, the first South Australian woman to be elected to parliament, the first and only female ALP senator from South Australia throughout her 19-year term and the first female minister from South Australia. Like so many of our party's trailblazers, she lived her values with courage and with wit, and you really do need both of those things if you are going to attempt to push through doors that have been barred by others. Rosemary spent her career in this place and afterwards unpicking the ingrained political, social, medical and economical constraints and restraints on women. She wanted to create spaces for women where they could thrive as equals, whether that be in politics or on the netball court. Her campaign slogan, as Senator Wong alluded to in her contribution, was Bread and Roses, and she talked about that in her first speech. She said:

These words capture exactly what I want to offer as my contribution to politics. This is because the bread and roses must go together, not bread first and roses later … A person may have adequate food, clothing, shelter, a bed to sleep in and even books and paper, but the loss of freedom means a starving heart.

And Rosemary's work did help ensure bread and roses for a whole generation of women. In 1995, Prime Minister Keating circulated a document entitled Agenda for Families, and it showcased Minister Crowley's achievements. The introduction of a six-week maternity payment, increased family payments, cash rebates for child care for working families, and childcare centre accreditation—these were all key reforms that began to break down the economic shackles that have constrained too many women. Many of her fights were not as public. There were internal battles in this place and elsewhere to make sure that women were in the room where the decisions were made or even on the record, like ensuring that a childcare centre was included in the planning of this building or that our words were recorded as they were spoken, changing Hansard's practice and arguing that they should cease the practice of converting pronouns in speeches into the masculine gender.

No achievement is realised in isolation, and we all inherit progress. That is true of the work that the Albanese government has done this term, whether it's our work on women's safety, sharing and valuing care, economic equality, women's health and women's leadership and representation. All of this was built on the work of Rosemary Crowley and her generation of colleagues. There would be no universal child care without her ministerial work and no paid parental leave as it exists today without the maternity payment. I know many people here in this place were mentees and close friends of Rosemary, including Senator Wong, who took over her Senate spot when she retired. To them and to her family I offer my heartfelt condolences. On behalf of women in our party and this side of the chamber, I thank her family for sharing her with us. Her legacy impacts those who never met her, but many have opportunity and a seat at the table because of her lifetime of work.