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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-13 Daily Xml
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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:33): On Thursday 8 March, South Australian women of all walks of life celebrated our 101stInternational Women's Day. These celebrations, such as breakfasts, lunches, and morning and afternoon teas, culminated in a rally in the city to mark the event. This is, of course, in keeping with the contribution that women have made, especially in South Australia, where the list of women path-breakers is very long and impressive, as is the record of achievements of women right here in South Australia.

South Australia was the first place in Australia to have a female politician, in Susan Grace Benny; the first to have a female balloonist, in Muriel Matters; and the first to promote a woman to the Supreme Court bench, Dame Roma Mitchell; plus later, Dame Roma became the first woman Governor. South Australia was also the first place to give women the right to stand for parliament and the right to vote, so it was in keeping that the first Women in Defence morning tea was held here too.

On this particular Thursday the first Women in Defence morning tea was held in the Sergeants' Mess at the Keswick Barracks, which is in the electorate of Ashford. I was invited by the Commander of the 9th Brigade, Brigadier Craig McCarthy, along with members of the Defence Reserves Support Council of South Australia, their Chairperson, Dr Pamela Schulz, and Deputy Chair, Mr George Belperio.

It was here that we met and enjoyed a morning tea with women in uniform or women who work in the Department of Defence as specialist support staff. Among those attending were several men and uniformed officers, all supporting the initiative. During the morning a special commendation for Sergeant Nicole Pawelski was read depicting her excellence in the Army Catering Corps, and she was warmly congratulated by those attending.

At the morning tea Brigadier McCarthy outlined the new and emerging change of culture for female reservists and full-time Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and the ability in the near future for them to move easily into and out of the ADF or the Reserves to take up the challenge of parenting and special family leave. In addition, a new parenting arrangement was outlined which would allow a new parent to continue with her career in the ADF while her partner was supported at home as the main caregiver. Such changes are most welcome and will ensure the importance of maintaining our security and national strength with a flexible and modern ADF. Brigadier McCarthy also commended the contribution of female personnel throughout the ADF and, in particular, their role in the Reserves, where their skills and training are highly sought after.

I am a very proud member of the South Australian Defence Reserves Support Council, along with my colleague on the other side the member for Bragg, Ms Vickie Chapman. Along with other people of high profile are dedicated members from the employer community, drawn from health (where South Australia punches well above its weight in supply of medical and nursing personnel), police, defence industries and other areas, and we aim to advocate Reserve service and support engagements with employers of reservists in South Australia.

From time to time, as a council we invite senior executives to participate in aspects of reservist training, which has included sea rides on war ships and destroyers, trips to the Solomon Islands to see employee reservists in action as peacekeepers, or spending time on parade nights in a typical weekly session. All members of parliament would be warmly welcomed and I know that the member for Bragg and I would willingly put your names forward to see reservist training and indeed participate for a short time to see the benefits these personnel bring to the workplace and to our community.

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