Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In March every year we mark International Women's Day, the day to celebrate women. It's a day to acknowledge the immense contribution women make to our economy, our society and our lives. It's a day to recognise how far we've come. Once women couldn't vote, and now we're leading countries. We once faced restrictions on where we worked, and now we're running corporations. We have rights our grandmothers could only have dreamed about, yet we still don't have complete equality. Whilst it's important to recognise how far we've come, it's clear to see how far we still must go.

This has been particularly evident over the past week as we've looked around this place and listened to the stories of women and their experiences here—stories like that of Brittany Higgins. I want to say to Brittany: you have shown enormous courage over the past week and, indeed, over the past few years. What happened to you shouldn't have happened; it's as simple as that. Your bravery will give other women courage and make this a safer workplace for all, and you are leading change for the better so that every woman can feel safe in their workplace. This is every woman's right inside these four walls and outside of this place.

We must do better because our lives depend on it. The World Economic Forum's 2020 global gender index ranks Australia 44th out of 153 countries. Australia has dropped five places in the last two years alone. If we look back at 2006, Australia was ranked 15th. The statistics are sobering—87,000 women are killed every year just because they are women. Of those, 50,000 are killed by their male partners or family members. And these are only the deaths we know about. In 111 countries there are no repercussions when husbands rape their wives and 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. Fourteen per cent is the size of Australia's gender pay gap. As of May 2020, a woman's average weekly ordinary full-time earnings across all industries and occupations was $1,558.40 compared to men's average weekly ordinary full-time earnings of $1,812. Forty-five countries do not have specific laws against domestic violence and 35 per cent of women globally have experienced sexual or physical violence.

As I said, we must do better because our lives depend on it. It's incumbent upon us as leaders of this nation to lead that change and to call out gender bias and inequality where and when we see it. As the first ever female member for Eden-Monaro, this is something I am incredibly committed to doing. I know that I'm backed up by my sisters across the electorate, who are working every single day to lead this change. They are strong women, like Chris Walters and Danielle Murphy at the Cobargo Bushfire Relief Centre, who have been working tirelessly, serving their community as it recovers from the Black Summer bushfires. They are strong women, like Christine Welsh from the Sapphire Community Pantry, who dedicates her life to helping others in community with their basic needs—like food. They are strong women, like Tarni Evans, GWS AFLW player. She has played for both the Tathra Sea Eagles and the Queanbeyan Tigers, leading the field in her chosen sport and changing attitudes along the way. They are strong women, like Queanbeyan's Justine Brown, a proud Ngunnawal woman, an Aboriginal health worker with Grand Pacific Health and the business brain and passion behind Mulleun Dreaming. They are people like Zoe Joseph from the Bombala Chamber of Commerce, a dynamo of change for her community and the business brains behind S.H.E Change, a female empowerment program. And they are business leaders, like Jane Cay from Birdnest in Cooma, who runs one of the most successful retail businesses in this country.

These women are out in our communities and leading the way every day of the year, not just on International Women's Day. They did this important work before the pandemic and they'll continue to do it post pandemic. But it's important to recognise the heavy burden women are carrying in relation to COVID-19. As frontline workers, as parents and as community members, more women have lost their jobs, more women have lost their hours, more women have been exposed to the virus and women have an increased risk of family and domestic violence. I know that the Labor Party, a party of equal representation, will continue to call on the government to deliver a COVID-19 response and economic plan that benefits all Australians.

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