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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-04 Daily Xml
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MATTERS OF INTEREST

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:24): I would like to use today's matters of interest debate to reflect on and celebrate International Women's Day. International Women's Day is on 8 March. This annual event is a global celebration of the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women all around the world. This is a day when women celebrate the progress that has been made and also contemplate those areas of women's lives where more can be done.

The theme of the 2009 International Women's Day is 'Women and men united to end violence against women and girls'. Violence affects the lives of millions of women world wide, in all socioeconomic and educational classes. It cuts across cultural and religious barriers, impeding the right of women to participate fully in society. Violence against women takes a dismaying variety of forms, from domestic abuse and rape to child marriages and female circumcision—violations of the most fundamental human rights.

Domestic violence comes in many forms, such as physical and sexual violence, threats, intimidation, emotional and social abuse and economic deprivation. The most influential factor of domestic violence in the community is the continuation of the cycle of abuse. Children who experience domestic violence can be severely affected throughout their lives. This is not something that we want to pass down through the generations.

We all know that women's access to education health care and paid labour has improved, particularly in western democracies, and many countries have enacted legislation that promotes equal opportunities for women and respect for their human rights. Despite this, nowhere in the world can women claim to have all the same rights and opportunities as men. Of the 1.2 billion people living in poverty, 70 per cent are women; of the 27 million refugees in the world, 80 per cent are women; and of the 1 billion-plus illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women.

International Women's Day originally started as a trade union protest in the United States of America. In 1908, 15,000 seamstresses marched through the streets of New York City, protesting for equal rights, including better pay, shorter working hours and the right to vote. In the early 1910s, the concept gained recognition across international communities, and momentum grew as women across Europe continued to fight for the right to work and to protest against world conflict. Since that time International Women's Day has been widely observed in both developed and developing countries alike.

International Women's Day marks an occasion for celebration as well as reflection on the world's progress towards achieving gender equality. Gender equality means the equal value of women and men. We want to overcome the stereotypes and prejudices so that both sexes can contribute and benefit equally. Let us not forget that as recently as the 1970s women constituted one-third of the workforce but were still paid less than men. In 1972 the Whitlam government ruled that women doing the same job as men should be paid the same wage. Few women, however, were employed in managerial or high status roles.

South Australia led our country in giving women the right to vote and enter parliament back in 1894. It was not until 1918 that a woman first stood for parliament, and it was not until 1959 that two women—Jessie Cooper and Joyce Steele—first stood for parliament and were elected. Currently in South Australia there are 21 women in our houses of parliament: 16 in the House of Assembly and five in the Legislative Council. In the federal, state and territory parliaments across Australia, 37 per cent of all Labor representatives are women, including both the Governor-General and the Deputy Prime Minister, but women are still under represented in our parliaments. I have said before and I will say again in passing, that it looks as though they will be even more under represented on the opposition benches after the next election.

The Labor Party strives to maintain gender balance in our parliament in order to ensure that policy outcomes reflect the needs of women in the Australian community. The National Labor Women's Network is an official national women's system within the ALP and provides a forum to increase the number of women active within the Labor Party. It aims to facilitate and develop relationships between state Labor women's organisations and the national network as well as support the development of skills that assist women to participate in the ALP at all levels.

All levels of Australian government have recognised the need to work together to ensure that women and men are treated equally, and to treat each individual with the respect to which he or she is entitled.

Time expired.

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