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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-21 Daily Xml
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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (15:26): I would like to support the words of the member for Morialta and thank him for bringing to this house the important national apology of forced adoptions today. I want to share with the house today a very excellent event that we had in Salisbury for International Women's Day. This was the seventh breakfast held in Salisbury hosted by our mayor, Gillian Aldridge. Nearly 100 people attended the sold-out event. It is a very, very popular event.

International Women's Day events honour and celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women throughout history, ranging from small random informal gatherings to large highly organised events. In 1977, the United Nations proclaimed 8 March as the UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace. Thousands of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. These events are held by organisations, governments, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations and the media, who celebrate the day.

Many groups choose different themes. The 2013 theme chosen by the City of Salisbury for International Women's Day was 'Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum'. Although there is a global momentum for championing women's rights, there is still much work to be done to improve gender equality. Many women around the world do not enjoy basic human rights or have access to essentials such as food security, health care and education.

In Australia, despite the participation rates of women in the workforce increasing significantly in the last few decades, women are still earning 17 per cent less than men and are under-represented in leadership positions. As a consequence, women accrue fewer retirement savings and are 2½ times more likely than men to live in poverty in their old age.

We had two guest speakers at the breakfast: Katrine Hildyard, the secretary of the Australian Services Union, and Crystal Vas, the 2013 City of Salisbury Young Citizen of the Year. I am delighted that there was a mix of attendees from Zonta, Salisbury Youth Committee, Salisbury High School, Endeavour Lutheran College and many other interested women—and a few men—to hear these speakers.

Katrine Hildyard was a recent winner of the Australia Day Women Hold Up Half The Sky Award. She was recognised for her leadership in the Strong Community, Healthy State campaign and her success in leading members of her union in the Fair Work Australia pay equity case, supporting an increase for those working in the community sector, which will flow on to about 20,000 workers here in South Australia.

Katrine shared with us her personal journey and the fact that her mother raised four children on her own while completing her teaching qualifications. Most importantly, she shared with us what her mother taught her to do, and that is to stand up for what she believes and to fight for what she believes. She also shared with us her own experience as a young worker in Western Australia when she stood up to racial comments in her workplace and said it was not okay. She stood up to make a difference, and she continues to make a difference every day as Secretary of the Australian Services Union.

Crystal Vas is a very active member of the Salisbury Youth Committee, which is a committee for people ages 14 to 25 years. I had the pleasure of being at the Australia Day awards where Crystal was acknowledged and became our Young Citizen of the Year in Salisbury. In the future she is looking forward to a career in media and she has learnt skills and experience on PBA FM, on the Jibba Jabba program, which is supported by Twelve 25 Salisbury Youth Enterprise Centre.

Most importantly, the message that Crystal shared with us was to encourage young women to share their voice in the community and the fact that this is how she has developed her skills and leadership in communication, and she has encouraged many others to participate, not only in their workplace but in their community and to share their voice. To all women who attended events on the day, congratulations, and we look forward to the tradition continuing on into the future.

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