Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

As a little reminder, when our government introduced reporting on the gender pay gap, Senator Canavan called the report a 'hill of nonsense' and 'completely useless'. It's good to see that the disdain for advancing women's economic participation is at least something the Libs and the Nationals can bond over. How can we forget, as the minister for industrial relations said, the Liberals' attack on women through their working-from-home policy? I know they like to tell you, but I'll tell you. The women of Australia haven't forgotten this. In fact, they tried so hard to bury this policy that they went so far as to try and bury the whole Liberal Party election review, and you can see why. On page 34 it said that the Liberals' messaging was 'unsympathetic to the needs of women to better balance their work and family life', but not even the party office agreed either. They said that the party must continue to allow flexible working arrangements.

But, of course, the Liberals weren't the only party to bury their election review. The Nationals did exactly the same thing, and is it any wonder when one of the recommendations contains that old chestnut from Tony Abbott of 'We need to recruit more women of calibre'? I shouldn't have to tell you this, but all women are women of calibre, and all women are capable of being in this place.

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