Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services, Housing, Youth and Women) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to associate myself with, in particular, part 3 of the motion, which supports the elimination of gender based discrimination, particularly against young girls. We all know it is not just the quantity of aid we give that matters but also the quality of aid. Australia can certainly play a role in eliminating discrimination against women and girls in developing countries. Previous speakers have mentioned microcredit. Microcredit is a very important way of improving the status of women in developing nations. Another very important focus is the education of girls. Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population are female. Without improving that figure we will never really tackle the economic exclusion of women. But it is not just about their economic exclusion; it is also about the health effects. We know that, where mothers are literate, not just their own health is vastly better but also the health of their children. Australia has a very generous population. We are personally very generous but we could do a lot more to—

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