Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I am proud to be a working parent, and I know many of my colleagues in this place and many, many working parents across the country feel the same way. It's a juggle and it's tough, but it is worth it. I can feel confident coming across the country to this place in weeks like this, or heading off to work in the great state of Western Australia, knowing that my son is somewhere safe, learning and growing and being educated by experienced and trained early education workers—early childhood educators. It's one of the best things about our country that we have a choice as working parents and—let's face it—as working mothers to do that. It's been long and hard-fought.

But what we saw last week from Senator Hanson is that Senator Hanson and One Nation don't believe that working parents should have that choice. They don't believe that working mothers should have that choice. Senator Hanson thinks that paid parental leave shouldn't be something that women are entitled to and shouldn't be something that businesses provide to their workers. She certainly wants to see superannuation stripped off paid parental leave and apparently believes that hardworking early childhood educators shouldn't be qualified to do the really important work that they do. Make no mistake: this position by Senator Hanson and One Nation will take our country backwards. It will take the progress that we have made on women's economic equality, on workplace equality and on gender equality more broadly backwards.

While One Nation and Senator Hanson want to tear it down, thank goodness they're not in charge. From 1 July, paid parental leave will be extended to a full six months so that parents can have more time at home, and we are rolling out three days of guaranteed cheaper child care for families.