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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-03-05 Daily Xml
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UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR WOMEN

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:58): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier tell the house about the importance of the UNIFEM breakfast that was held this morning at the Convention Centre?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:58): Earlier this morning, I was delighted, along with the Governor, His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce, and his wife, Liz, to attend this morning's UNIFEM breakfast at the Convention Centre. It was held there because Adelaide hosts the nation's largest UNIFEM breakfast, and this morning nearly 2,000 women attended the breakfast—the most anywhere in Australia—along with a scattering of supporting men to hear guest speaker, the delightful Margaret Pomeranz, of the ABC's At The Movies fame.

Hosting the breakfast was South Australia's own federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, and I am pleased to say that there was an enormous turn out of members of parliament and many members of federal, state and local government, including ministers Lomax-Smith, Zollo and, of course, the Minister for the Status of Women, Jennifer Rankine. I note that even very strong feminists from the upper house—Hon. John Gazzola and, indeed, a raging feminist in Bob Sneath, the President—were there to show their support. UNIFEM is the United Nations Development Fund for Women that was established in 1976 to provide financial and technical assistance aimed at strengthening the voice, position and power of women around the world, especially in terms of basic human rights, poverty and gender equality.

UNIFEM Australia was incorporated in 1990, and I am very pleased that, over the years, this major fundraising breakfast which coincides with International Women's Day (which is on Saturday) is now the largest UNIFEM breakfast in Australia. It is of no surprise to me that nearly 2,000 people attended the breakfast. South Australian women are proud to be living in the second jurisdiction in the world (a few months behind New Zealand) to allow women to vote and the first jurisdiction in the world to allow women to stand for election to parliament in 1894. However, it was a further 24 years before a woman actually stood for parliament in South Australia in 1918 and a further 41 years before a woman was elected to the South Australian parliament in 1959.

It took a while, but 113 years on we celebrate another first: a South Australian woman, Julia Gillard, was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, the most senior political position ever held by a woman in this country. I have no doubt that her appointment is a true inspiration to girls and women everywhere, especially to those young women considering a political career.

Of course, this government seeks to increase the number of women in this parliament to 50 per cent by 2014. I am very pleased to say that, as far as the Labor Party is concerned, we have 46.4 per cent representation of women in the House of Assembly. We are very close to equal representation and, while I am reluctant to become too political because that is not my way, I point out that women hold 41.7 per cent of the seats held by the South Australian Labor Party in the whole parliament, compared to just 21.7 per cent of seats held by women from the Liberal Party. I need not remind you, Mr Speaker, that the Liberal Party has just three women in this house and, for the first time in history, this South Australian cabinet boasts five women ministers. We have been appointing record numbers of women to the Supreme Court and I know I have had the very strong support of the Attorney-General in doing so.

When I first became Premier of this state six years ago, almost to the minute, I also made it my business to ensure we lifted the number of women on government boards and committees. I am delighted to inform the house—and this is breaking news—that as of 1 March this year 44 per cent of members on our boards and committees are women, compared to 33 per cent four years ago. Of those chairing those boards and committees, 32 per cent are women compared to just 24 per cent four years ago. A key tool to this government used to increase the number of women in leadership positions is the Premier's Women's Directory. By last month, 472 women were registered on the directory—an increase from the 280 women registered as of June 2006. Of those 472 women, many are from regional South Australia, from an Aboriginal community and from our multicultural community.

The Minister for the Status of Women has done a magnificent job in ensuring that women are given a greater role on our boards and committees. It is worth reminding the house that the minister has expanded outreach services to women throughout this state. She has led the trial of the Family Safety Framework across the whole of government to provide better outcomes for those families at risk of experiencing family violence. She has also led the Women's Safety Strategy. The minister has been a key advocate inside cabinet and government for ensuring laws relating to the rape and sexual assault are changed and improved.

I am proud of this government's record on women's issues and I hope that we can lead by example, especially for those opposite. To the women of South Australia, I wish you every success for this Saturday's International Women's Day and I thank all those women who got up this morning so early to support today's UNIFEM breakfast.

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