Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This Sunday just gone, as we just heard, was International Women's Day, and the theme for that day was 'Balance the Scales'. It's a day when we reflect and honour the women and girls from all walks of life: young women, courageous women, inspiring women, pioneering women, girls growing up to be women, brave women, women who take on other people's burdens, radiant women, tenacious women and all the women in between. Women matter, and their voices matter.

For this International Women's Day, I joined the member for Griffith and the member for Moreton in the sea of pink at the Mater fun run in Brisbane. Mater Chicks in Pink exists so no woman has to face breast cancer alone. This year they raised more than $2 million in donations and had over 25,000 participants. The streets were alive with bright pink shirts, and it was truly a remarkable sight.

In the afternoon I returned to my high school, Mt St Michael's College, to deliver a keynote speech to the mothers and daughters at their high tea. At the event, I spoke about the importance of backing yourself and leaning into your values. I shared my story that speaks to how young girls and women have a place in our world, how they can lead and they can make a difference, and how, as others before us have done, we can use our experiences, our courage and resilience to better balance the scales.

While I believe each of us can make a difference on our own, I do believe we need women in decision-making roles to make those scales tip more quickly. I'm not talking about pushing men down. I'm talking about making sure we all rise. It's not a zero-sum game. There's not one winner nor one loser. Balancing the scales is not about asking for special treatment; it's about ensuring that when decisions are made—whether it be in this House, in business, in schoolrooms, in churches, in homes—women are present.

Here in Australia, we are beginning to see some real change take form. Throughout history, I think it's fair to say, Labor has been a progressive force for women, establishing many of the reforms and initiatives that continue to drive gender equality to this day. But having women in key government decision-making roles had been slow. When I think about the first federal Labor woman in cabinet, it was Senator Susan Ryan, and that started back in 1983. What a trailblazer she was, the architect of the Sex Discrimination Act. Slowly, over time, more and more women were elected to parliament and have taken on significant roles. In our party, how can we forget Julia Gillard, who became our first female prime minister in 2010? Jump forward 16 years and what do we see? This Labor government is the first majority woman federal government, with women making up 52 per cent of the Labor caucus. The Albanese Labor government's cabinet is now the first ever federal cabinet to be gender equal, with women comprising 11 of the 22 positions.

The representation of women in Labor is not by accident, and I talked a lot about this on Sunday. On 26 September 1994, the ALP made a historic decision to introduce quotas for women. It was highly controversial. I remember it at the time. There were arguments on merit versus tokenism, but over time the party found accomplished women to run for seats, and that rule changed the culture and a process. The facts speak to its success. The parliamentary Labor team has swelled from under 10 per cent women in 1989 to over 50 per cent now. Further, in May last year, seven of the nine representatives who won in Queensland were women. Their CVs are impressive and they're doing a great job. The tokenism argument is gone.

We know that getting women elected matters because it means we can drive the change that women need. We make up half the population, and yet our issues are often misunderstood, dismissed or ignored. I want to say to women all across the country and in my seat of Brisbane: you matter, and this Labor government is listening and delivering.

Let's start with health. For far too long, women's health has been overlooked, underfunded and misunderstood, even though it's central to women's equality. Last year, our government announced a landmark women's health package, investing almost $800 million in women's health. The investment improves access to long-term contraceptives, provides better support to women experiencing chronic pelvic pain and supports those with menopause conditions. This includes funding 11 additional endometriosis clinics and expanding all 33 clinics to provide specialised menopause care.

Since this historic health package was announced, more than 660,000 women have accessed more than two million cheaper scripts. Before Yaz, Yasmin and Slinda were listed, women were paying around $380 a year for their contraception, and now they're paying only $25 a script. Before EstroGel was listed, women could have paid up to $670 a year, and now they're only paying $25 a script, or $7.70 if they're on concession. Since this package was announced, more than 71,000 women have received Medicare funded menopause health assessments. Since 1 November last year, women in Brisbane have also had access to affordable IUDs and birth control implants, as have women around the country. Women asked the government to take their health seriously, and this Labor government is delivering.

Let's look at the workplace. The Albanese government centred gender equality as a key economic issue at the Jobs and Skills Summit. They expanded paid parental leave. They increased funding for child care. They made gender equality an object of the Fair Work Act. They introduced paid family and domestic violence leave. They funded and legislated the implementation of all 55 recommendations of the Respect@Work report. They finalised the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children They finalised Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Plan to End Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence. The government also established the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce and began work on a national strategy to achieve gender equality. In 2022, Labor introduced legislation forcing companies, especially those with over 100 employees, to publish their gender pay gaps. There's a lot going on.

On 7 March 2024, the Australian government's Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality was launched by the Minister for Women, the Hon. Katy Gallagher, outlining the government's vision for gender equality. Alongside that announcement, the Albanese Labor government announced that superannuation will now be paid on parental leave. The government has also taken very strong steps to support working women with the three-day childcare guarantee.

Let's briefly talk about housing. It was this government that passed the legislation to establish the Housing Australia Future Fund. More women are buying their homes with five per cent deposits. We're investing in crisis accommodation. In response to the unacceptable rates of violence against women that continue across Australia, the Albanese government has taken a national leadership role and convened National Cabinet meetings on gender based violence. The Commonwealth, states and territories have agreed to increased action to address this violence, and the Commonwealth has made a range of investments. A couple that I'll mention are the $1 billion in the new Leaving Violence Program and the $4.4 billion that followed in September, which includes funding to support legal assistance.

The majority-women Albanese government continues to invest in women, putting women and gender equality at the centre of Australia's economic plan and making women's lives safer, fairer and more equal. When women and girls stand equal, families are stronger, workplaces are fairer, communities thrive and society becomes safer and better for everyone.

Government plays an important role in driving change for women and girls across the country. This government, as you've heard, has done a lot, but we do have more to do. I'm really proud to be a member of this Labor government that backs women and delivers for them. I also say to the women across the country and in Brisbane that, if you're questioning yourself—and we had some of these discussions at the event at Mt St Michael's—just think a little bit. Maybe channel a bit of Michelle Obama: 'Am I good enough? Yes, I am.' Or maybe hear the words of our first Australian astronaut:

Every day you need to believe it's going to happen.

Happy International Women's Day.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 16:50

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