Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This evening I rise to speak on the recent Pacific Women's Parliamentary Partnerships Forum, held in Honiara on the Solomon Islands. Sixty women from 17 Pacific parliaments came together for the fifth Pacific Women's Parliamentary Partnerships Forum. Women attended from as far away as Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Tonga and Niue. Forum participants included female presiding officers, deputy presiding officers, ministers, party leaders, members of parliament, former and potential electorate candidates and parliamentary staff, as well as 18 observing members of the Solomon Islands Young Women's Parliamentary Group. I was honoured to attend again after attending previous forums. The annual forum is a crucial part of the Australian government's Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development initiative, a 10-year, $320 million program launched by the former Labor government in 2012.

With women's representation in Pacific parliaments being the lowest in the world, it is unimaginably hard for a woman to be elected in a Pacific island country, let alone cope with the work and stress once elected. There are cultural and tribal expectations that parliamentarians will provide significant support, both emotional and monetary, to home communities and extended families, as well as expectations that politicians always show strength. With little to no support network around them, this is immensely tiring and a personally challenging endeavour. Many of these women parliamentarians are the only woman in their parliament, or if they're lucky there might be a small group. Constantly, as the only woman in their parliament, they carry an extra burden but also a privilege of trying to represent both their constituency and the views of 50 per cent of their entire country. Contrast that to the Australian Senate, where in the Labor Party over half of our senators are women and women comprise around 40 per cent of total senators.

As such, the annual Pacific Women's Parliamentary Partnerships Forum is a critical opportunity for women across the Pacific to come together, let their guard down, share inspirations and success stories and provide much-needed support to each other. I have met many of the women at previous forums, and the warm smiles on arrival continued across the week with stories of family, the failings of their parliaments and, of course, the wins that we all achieve for our local communities. In particular, it was wonderful to see Senators Senior and Inabo from Palau, Speaker Niki Rattle, Selina Napa and Aunty Mau Munokoa from the Cook Islands.

Through the partnership, Senators Senior and Inabo visited Australia a few years ago, and I was lucky enough to host them in Tasmania. Also, through the partnership, the Cook Islands has taken inspiration from other Pacific countries and recently passed a family protection and support bill and a harassment bill to better ensure women and children are protected from violence both at home and in public. This is a crucial reform as violence amongst women is at endemic levels in Pacific countries. In the Cook Islands, a 2014 Ministry of Health survey found that one in three women experiences violence by a male partner or male family member in their lifetime, while one in 10 experiences such violence while pregnant. Of those, only 10 per cent of survivors turn to counsellors or health professionals and only 40 per cent report the incident to police. In the Solomon Islands, a 2009 family health and support survey found that 64 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 experienced intimate partner violence, and 73 per cent of Solomon Islanders, men and women alike, believe that violence against women is justifiable. Only one-third of survivors told anyone about the violence and less than 20 per cent sought help from formal services.

The Solomon Islands government passed its Family Protection Act in 2014 and opened its gender based violence health clinic, Seif Ples, in the same year. After a request from Senator Moore, on our final morning in Honiara a small group of us were privileged to visit Seif Ples and meet the dedicated medical staff and volunteers who care for women and children who are escaping family violence. As we entered through the large, heavy fence and drove down the long driveway, the small centre had a strong sense of peacefulness amongst the chaos of Honiara, which is bulging at its seams with people. The small centre has only one bunk bed for survivors and a small demountable hut which houses its medical team. We talked to the staff and volunteers about the vital service they provide and, with the utmost humility—which so defines Solomon Islanders—they shared how this small centre and its partners in the police, the Ministry of Health and non-government organisations are slowly changing attitudes toward gender based violence, and making a real difference.

Seif Ples is a unique, multi-sectoral model combining gender based violence services under one roof. Survivors can go there 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and find refuge and safety while staff at the centre arrange for medical care and onward referral in a sensitised environment. Critically, with the advent of mobile phones across the Pacific, the volunteers staff a 24-hour referral hotline which receives thousands of phone calls a year. Despite three years of operations of Seif Ples and three years of the Family Protection Act, there remain daily challenges for resourcing and improving community awareness. The bold steps taken by the Solomon Islands in establishing the centre are an inspiration for others right across the region.

One lunch break during the forum I met with Mary Elizabeth 'MJ' Ramosaea from MJ Enterprises, a small business in Honiara which makes calico stay-free kits that enable Solomon Islands women to manage their menstruation hygienically and with dignity. For many women and girls, particularly in rural and isolated areas, there is no choice but to use whatever is available to manage their menstruation. There are also cultural traditions associated with menstruation where women are shunned during their periods.

The kit includes two cloth shields, liners, bags and soap. As well as the kits, MJ provides high-quality information services to ensure that women and girls are empowered to make informed decisions about how they manage their menstruation. The kits are hand sewn by women in Honiara and support three women working full-time and three others in associated small businesses. It is a tremendous social enterprise and I commend MJ and her team for starting such an important service that will enable women and girls to go to school, go to work and participate in daily life with dignity.

It's a pleasure to report to the Senate the positive sentiment towards Australia and the Australian government for the support for the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development initiative. In the recent election results in Papua New Guinea, despite 167 women contesting 111 seats, no women were elected. In contrast, at last year's Samoan elections, five women were elected, four through constituencies and one further to meet the 10 per cent quota introduced in 2013. All Samoan politicians should be commended for their passage of the quota, which is a strong template for the region.

Halfway through the 10-year program it is vital that we redouble our efforts to improve women's political and economic participation, and make communities and homes safer—to inspire women from across the Pacific to stand for election and equip them with the support and the tools to win. The forum has provided a clear platform to raise the issues of women in the Pacific and to ensure that women's voices, particularly in leadership, are heard at home and overseas. I took heart from the message from Papua New Guineans who said that, in politics, if you don't succeed the first time, you don't give up.

Women who run for parliament or who enter private enterprise across the Pacific demonstrate enormous resilience, overcoming enormous cultural barriers and often ending up alone in parliament. Australia can play our part with guidance, support and finances. With ongoing engagement outside the formalities of the forum we will see more women elected to parliaments of the Pacific, and we will see the explicit criminalisation of domestic violence and the resources to support survivors and to catch perpetrators. We will see more support for female hygiene products so that cultural traditions of beating, abusing or shunning women who are on their period are shown as yesterday's actions, which cannot be tolerated.

I thank the team here in the Australian parliament's Parliamentary Skills Centre and their partners in the Solomon Islands parliament for their work to bring so many women together from across the region for such a positive forum. And I thank the Australian High Commissioner's staff, both Australians and Solomon Islanders, for their hospitality and generosity. Thank you.