Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macquarie for her question and for her advocacy on behalf of her electorate, particularly her advocacy as a very strong voice for women—as part of a caucus in government which has a majority of women for the first time. I think it's no accident that there is a link between that and the budget we produced on Tuesday night, handed down by the Treasurer, with the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher's, mark all over it.

In our first budget, last October, we invested in cheaper child care and in paid parental leave. Cheaper child care was the largest on-budget commitment that we made in the election campaign, something that was in my first reply to the budget as opposition leader and in the era when opposition leaders actually had policies and put forward constructive ideas in budget replies. In this budget we have a 15 per cent rise also for aged-care workers, a sector dominated by women workers and part of our national strategy for the care economy. Tomorrow, I will be talking with workers in the aged-care sector, along with the minister, about the impact that this will have. It was a recommendation of the royal commission that we needed to address, the underpayment of workers in this sector, by and large women, whether they be nurses, orderlies, the cleaners, the people who work in that sector, and $11.3 billion was a substantial commitment to do just that.

We expanded the single-parent payment, helping 52,000 single mums. The increase in rent assistance will help single women, who are around half of the recipients. We abolished the ParentsNext program, which punished some of the most vulnerable women, and we provided additional support to people over 55 on JobSeeker, the majority of whom are women. We are working to close the gender pay gap, reforming workplace laws so it's easier to deliver pay rises for women in low-paid, undervalued sectors, and requiring companies to report on their gender pay gap.

We have made women's safety a national priority across two budgets. We have invested $2.29 billion to end domestic violence, and, of course, our Housing Australia Future Fund, which remains held up in the Senate by the coalition and the Greens political party, includes 4,000 new homes for women and children escaping domestic violence. We have a comprehensive plan for women because we want to be a government that represents all Australians. (Time expired)

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