Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I would like to address some comments to the fact that on 8 March 2011 Australia will acknowledge 100 years of International Women’s Day. In 1910, influential German socialist, politician and advocate for women’s rights Clara Zetkin proposed the idea of an International Women’s Day to her colleagues at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. Zetkin proposed that every year, in every country, there should be a celebration on the same day—a women’s day to press for gender equality and other demands. Zetkin’s proposal was received with unanimous support from over 100 women representing 17 countries, and the very first International Women’s Day was held the following year on 19 March 1911. That date was chosen because during the 1848 revolution on 19 March the King of Prussia recognised for the first time the strength of the armed people and gave way before the threat of a proletarian uprising. He had made and broken many promises, among them being the introduction of votes for women.

Celebrated on 8 March since 1913, International Women’s Day is a day where women are recognised for their achievements, regardless of national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political divisions. It is a day where the world can reflect on many amazing achievements of women, yet consider the areas in which there is still much work to be done. The very first International Women’s Day in 1911 was observed across Europe with meetings and protests, sparking great public debate about the rights of women, particularly in the political arena. A century later, the world will next week mark the 100th anniversary of that first International Women’s Day. Today International Women’s Day is usually marked peacefully, recognising and celebrating the achievements of women in the past and acknowledging what we need to do in the future.

Since its establishment, International Women’s Day has grown to assume a new global dimension for women in both developed and developing countries; the commemoration is somewhat of a rallying point to build and strengthen support for women’s rights. There are over 1,000 events planned across the world for International Women’s Day on 8 March, with countries such as the UK, Canada, the US and Ireland amongst many others participating. Here in Australia there will be at least 140 events held across the country to mark the day. Tomorrow in this parliament there will be a cross-party International Women’s Day breakfast held to acknowledge the fact that we are celebrating this milestone.

This year, International Women’s Day also coincides with the launch of the new United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women called UN Women. Including the well-known UNIFEM, UN Women is a new organisation which will accelerate the UN’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for a greater impact. Australia is proud to have been one of the first countries to pledge multi-year core funding for UN Women, as we are committed to supporting international efforts to bring about equality for women. The Australian arm, UN Women Australia, will be coordinating events across the country, raising funds for the core programs of UN Women and focusing on female leadership and political participation.

As a woman involved in politics, I feel that it is crucial that we have an organisation such as UN Women to accelerate and improve gender equality. Despite concerted efforts, women remain underrepresented in decision-making entities across the globe. Throughout the world and at all levels of government, women’s political representation is significantly lower than that of men. The figure of 30 per cent is considered by the United Nations as the minimum percentage required to ensure a critical mass of women needed to influence decision-making processes and political agendas. Here in the Australian Senate, we are fortunate enough to surpass the 30 per cent mark of women, with 27 out of 76 Senate seats held by women, equating to just over 35 per cent. However, in the other place only 37 of 150 seats are held by women, meaning that just over 24 per cent of House of Representative members are women. It is evident that in the Australian parliament we still have a long way to go to reach complete equality, and for the time being we still have to work on reaching the 30 per cent mark in both houses.

I was pleased to read an article in South Australia’s daily newspaper, the Advertiser, recently, about the growing number of women holding elected positions within the state’s local government. Following South Australia’s recent local government elections, there are now 193 women councillors representing their communities across the state. This takes women’s representation in local government in South Australia up three per cent to a total of 27 per cent. It is a notable increase and a testament to the local government authorities who have worked very hard to increase women’s representation, but there is still a lot more work to be done.

It is hard to believe that while in 1902 Australia granted women the right to vote and also to seek election it took over 100 years, until 2010, for a woman to become the Prime Minister of this country. To this day, even though the suffrage movement had a stranglehold in this country more than a century ago, women are still significantly underrepresented and are facing barriers in their everyday lives. The federal Labor government has made concerted efforts to address this issue. We are committed to achieving an equal place in society for women by engaging with women’s organisations that support gender equality. We are committed to international engagement and are working with and supporting international forums and policies on matters which affect women.

We are committed to reducing violence against women and their children. Recently, the Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis, announced the endorsement by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. The national plan is a single, unified strategy that brings together government efforts to reduce violence against women. The national plan is the first of its kind to place such a strong focus on prevention and recognises that only sustained, united action on multiple levels across generations and across all jurisdictions will achieve long-term change. All forms of violence against women are unacceptable, and the Gillard government is working hard to reduce the prevalence of violence against women.

One of the most significant steps the federal Labor government has taken to provide equality for women is the introduction on 1 January this year of paid parental leave. With the gender pay gap still in place, the government has made a point of addressing this issue and promoting access to full employment and decent working conditions for women. The national Paid Parental Leave scheme creates more certainty for expecting families. It gives incentives to employers to hire women as it is government funded. It can be transferred to another parent in order to provide fair and reasonable opportunity to either parent. It encourages employers not to overlook female employees. It has taken us a step closer to removing the barriers to women’s participation in the workplace and has been received with much success across the country in the few months that it has been in place.

Unfortunately, Clara Zetkin passed away in 1933, but her passing did not bring the end of her legacy. Her bequest of International Women’s Day lives on. For many women of the world International Women’s Day is not just one day; it has a far wider meaning and is a philosophy by which to lead their lives. It is not only an occasion to review how far women have come in the struggle for equality; it is an opportunity to unite, network, and learn from each other. Each and every one of us has the ability to make meaningful changes. Just like Clara Zetkin did, we need to make the most of the opportunities we are given and we need to work together to support all women, wherever they are in the world, to achieve true equality.