Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Four years ago, the Albanese Labor government made a promise to the women of Australia: your economic security, your safety, your health would be at the centre of every decision we made, not as an afterthought, not as a sidebar but as core economic priority. Today I stand here to tell all of the women in Australia that we kept that promise, and, with this budget, we are going further, because here is what we know to be true: when women thrive, Australia thrives; when women are paid fairly, our economy grows; when women are safe at home, our communities are stronger; and when women have access to health care, our nation is healthier. This is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do. This is a budget for every Australian woman—every mum, every nurse, every teacher, every engineer, every woman working two jobs to keep the lights on. To every woman who has ever been told that politics doesn't speak for her, this budget is for you.

Before I talk about where we are going, let me take a moment to acknowledge where we have come from, because the numbers tell a powerful story. Women's labour workforce participation is now at a record high—63 per cent. The gender pay gap has fallen to a historic low of 11.5 per cent. Women's full-time wages have grown by almost $300 a week since May 2022, an 18 per cent increase. And on the world stage, Australia's international gender equality ranking has jumped from 43rd to 13th. That is not an accident; that is the result of deliberate, sustained Labor policy. We didn't get here by luck. We got here by choice, and the choice was to put women first.

Let me talk about every woman's pay packet because this budget delivers real, meaningful tax relief that will be felt by millions of Australian women. We are introducing a new $250 working Australians tax offset. Around 6.3 million women will benefit from this ion the 2027-28 financial year alone. But that's not all. Combined with the three tax cuts we've already legislated and the $1,000 instant tax deduction, the average Australian female worker earning around $68,000 a year will be up to $2,494 better off per year compared to where she was under the old tax arrangements. That is more money towards groceries, rent, kids' expenses or simply having a little bit of financial breathing room for the first time in years. And critically, our tax cuts are designed to particularly benefit part-time and lower income earners, which means they are designed to benefit women, because we know that women disproportionately work part-time, often because they're carrying the weight of caring responsibilities. Our tax policies recognises that and makes sure that we're levelling the playing field.

There is one issue in this budget I want to speak about with the weight that it really does deserve. Every week in Australia, women are being killed. Every week, women are trapped in homes that are not safe. This is an absolute national emergency, and this Labor government is treating it like one. Since 2022, we have invested over $4.4 billion to deliver the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children—the most of any government ever. Over 10,000 victims-survivors have been supported through the Leaving Violence Program in just its first five months. We've added 496 frontline workers to the domestic and family violence and sexual violence sector right across the country, and we've provided nearly $1 billion to the states and territories for service delivery. Every woman deserves to feel safe in her home, on the streets, online and at work—everywhere.

Ending violence is not just about physical safety. It is also about financial safety. Right now, across Australia, there is $2 billion in outstanding child support debt—$2 billion owed to single parents, the vast majority of them women. Former partners refuse to pay what they owe to their own children. In this budget, we are investing $182.6 million to fix the Child Support Scheme and stop it being weaponised as a tool of financial abuse and control. We are making it easier to move to agency-collected arrangements, where there are greater protections. We are giving Services Australia the power to stop vexatious and harassing behaviour, and we are making sure that perpetrators cannot hide their income to minimise what they pay. This will protect 478,000 women receiving child support and around one million children. These are real families and real lives, and they deserve a government that has their back.

I also want to speak directly about the disproportionate burden of violence faced by First Nations women, because any serious plan to end gender based violence must start with them. In February this year, we launched the first-ever standalone First Nations led national domestic, family and sexual violence prevention strategy, titled 'Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices', developed in genuine partnership with the First Nations community. It is backed by $218.3 million in new funding, investing in a national network of Aboriginal community controlled organisations to deliver specialist, community led family safety services. Lasting change must be driven by First Nations communities. This government listens, and then it acts.

For too long, women's health was treated as a footnote. Conditions that affect millions of Australian women were underresearched, underfunded and too often dismissed. Labor changed that. Today, 33 specialist clinics for endometriosis and pelvic pain are open right across Australia. More than 380,000 women have accessed new, cheaper contraceptives for the first time since their PBS listing, and 430,000 women have now accessed new menopausal hormone therapies. This budget continues to invest in bulk-billing, Medicare urgent care clinics and mental health support. Good health is not a privilege. It is absolutely a right. Two clinics service my community of Bonner—the Carina-Carindale clinic and also the Redlands clinic. Over 8,000 people have already been through those doors since they opened in December. This week we also launched the first-ever national menopause awareness campaign, because it is long past time that we talked about menopause and perimenopause in an open and honest way, without shame.

Women in Australia carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care work, and that has a direct cost to their careers, their wages and their retirement savings. Labor is changing this. From 1 July 2026, the Paid Parental Leave scheme reaches six full months—six months to bond with your baby without being forced back to work before you or your child might be ready. We're investing $4.7 billion into cheaper child care and have introduced the three-day guarantee. So far, 80,000 more children are now enrolled in early childhood education, and 52,000 more educators are working in the sector, supported by a 15 per cent pay rise. Childcare workers, who are overwhelmingly women, have been undervalued for too long. Labor is fixing that.

There is another statistic that should make every Australian woman angry. On average, women retire with significantly less superannuation than men. They live longer. They earn less over their lifetime, and they've had their super cut off every time they have paused to raise a child. Labor is fixing this as well. Superannuation is now paid on government funded paid parental leave. The superannuation guarantee is increasing. We've reformed the low income superannuation tax offset, and we're ensuring that super is paid on payday so that employers can no longer delay payments that belong to you.

I want to close with this. No budget can be perfect, but this budget is proof of something powerful—that, when a Labor government is in office, women's lives are better for it. There's record women's participation in the workforce, a shrinking pay gap, six months of paid parental leave, tax relief in millions of women's pockets, 33 endometriosis clinics now open and over 10,000 domestic violence survivors given the help they need to leave. These are not talking points; they are lives changed. This Labor government will continue to put women first.

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