Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why is gender equality a priority for our Labor government? And why do all Australians have a responsibility to do more and do better on matters of gender equality?

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

I thank the member for Barton for her question. She was there this morning, along with many members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, attending the UN women's event that was held here in the parliament in the lead-up to International Women's Day. Greater equality for women is central to our government's agenda because it's fundamental to Australia's success. It's not an add-on or a nice-to-have. It's not confined to an individual portfolio or treated as a matter of special interest. It is about the national interest. This is about the investments that we make to close the gender pay gap, to boost economic opportunity and to address the national scourge of violence against women.

Equality for women is also about the standards and example we set, the culture we are part of and the language that we use. And last week the Nightly published a piece by Aaron Patrick under the headline 'Why I wouldn't marry Sussan Ley'. That headline is a disgrace, and the article is no better. I don't intend to quote from it any further. You really only need to know one thing about it: that article would never have been written about a male political leader. One of the lessons I would hope that this parliament and those who observe it have learnt from Julia Gillard's time as Prime Minister is that it is not enough to shake our heads at this stuff in private. As leaders, we have a responsibility to call it out, and today, as Prime Minister, I call it out.

This can and should be a place for passionate arguments. A contest of ideas is a healthy thing in a democracy. But we need less hatred in our national discourse. We need less polarisation. We need fewer attempts to provoke outrage or simply manufacture it. Not everything needs to be dialled up to 11. This is a great country, and we all love it. We're all here to serve it, and we should work together to set and uphold a better standard. That is a responsibility that all of us have in this place. But it's also a responsibility that people who comment on national affairs have as well.