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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-03 Daily Xml
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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S ACTIONS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (16:39): I was very pleased to read in TheNew York Times on 29 January that President Obama was scheduled to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The New York Times reported that Lilly Ledbetter spent many of her years working as a plant supervisor in a tyre factory in Alabama—the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The story told is that, nearing retirement, Ms Ledbetter discovered that her male colleagues, who had been doing the same work, had consistently been paid a lot more than she had. I do not have time in this grievance speech to go into the various levels of legal wrangling that took place. Suffice to say that although Ms Ledbetter—who is now 70—will not benefit personally from this bill, it will symbolise the principle of equal rights and pay for women in the paid workforce. As mentioned in TheNew York Times article, it is also a triumph for the frequently underpaid lawyers who champion the many different causes of equal pay and rights for women in the workplace in the US.

The other matter that I think is worth mentioning is overseas aid. This is something in which I have been very interested in the Australian context, especially with regard to support for developing countries and for women and children in those countries. I was delighted to read that President Barak Obama has issued an executive order that repeals the global gag rule. Of course, the global gag rule prohibited family planning programs in other nations that receive United States aid from using non-United States moneys for abortion counselling, advocacy and referrals. The rule, instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, was repealed, I am pleased to say, by President Clinton and then, unfortunately, was reinstated by President George W. Bush.

The global gag rule has inhibited women worldwide from accessing not only gynaecological examinations, AIDS prevention and treatment but also a whole range of contraceptive options. It has halted shipments of condoms and contraceptives, in particular, to more than 20 countries. The reports on this rule that I have read have said that it is predicted that more than 70,000 women die each year due to restricted access to reproductive health services and that women have been forced to seek what have become unsafe backyard abortions.

Some of the strongest feminist groups in the US have applauded President Obama for the Ledbetter equal pay bill and for repealing this absolutely dreadful global gag rule provision. So, one can only hope that other countries that have put this inhibition on aid for women and children—including Australia—make sure that there is an element of choice in the sort of support and information that women receive, particularly with regard to their reproductive health.

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