ANNUAL REPORT 2008– 2009

(delivered 22 September 2009)

• Background to the Year
• Submissions and Issues
• Committee

Background to the Year

Women Into Politics continued this year with its monitoring of governments and their attitudes to and accommodation of women’s concerns and women’s representation, and some things improved, but others deteriorated, including the growing gender gap in wages and the miserable levels of superannuation accumulated by women. Although about 30% of members in the Commonwealth Parliament are women, their general influence does not appear to be great at present, with the notable exception of Julia Gillard as Deputy Prime Minister and of other Ministers. According to a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, (Coalition women given the silent treatment in Parliament, 15/9/2009), federal Liberal women have commented that they are being sidelined by the “lack of questions they are allowed to ask” at Question Time, and Labor women have noted that “the reshuffle in June saw one woman dropped from the frontbench and three men added.”

The federal political scene was dominated from October 2008 by the Global Financial Crisis precipitated by recklessness in the U.S. financial markets and a proliferation of junk loans in that country. Many countries, Australia included, poured “stimulus” money into business and sections of the community to keep unemployment growth down and spending up. The second huge issue facing all governments and the world over the year has been carbon emissions, and much rhetoric but little action has been directed at the issues involved with global warming. These two major issues have pushed other things into the background, and there has been much unhelpful squabbling between and within the political parties that is just time-wasting.

The corporate world still seems to have the ready ear of government, partly because it has large sums of money to pay for its lobbying and its attendance at special functions, while non-government organizations and women are less heard and have lost status. The Prime Minister is popular, and despite talk of a double dissolution, the Rudd government is expected to win the next election due in late 2010.

Nathan Rees became Premier of NSW in early September 2008, with The Hon Carmel Tebbutt as his deputy. Since then, ministerial changes and various scandals have demonstrated that the culture of the government shows no sign of improvement and there is now open criticism about widespread corruption. NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell says that he “would establish a public sector ethics Act in government to help clean up the state” if he wins the March 2010 election.

In addition, the electoral laws of the state of NSW, which provide for four year parliamentary terms with fixed date elections, need amendment to provide for an extra and safe mechanism to bring on an early election under certain specified conditions, so that an incompetent government in its death throes can be replaced early following a vote of the people.

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Submissions and Issues

Late in 2008, Women Into Politics wrote an open letter to all federal women parliamentarians, pointing out that many women parliamentarians “appear to fail to bring their experience as women to bear on public policy and public decision making, or to press their party and the Parliament to act on matters which many women consider are still barriers to women’s equality and wellbeing. Men do not hesitate to raise issues that are of concern to them and label it as in the public interest.” The letter contained seven issues that we requested the women parliamentarians to “push your party to prioritise and act upon.” These were issues about which Women Into Politics has written letters and made submissions over a long period of years.

One of the seven issues was finally resolved during 2009 when the restrictive sections of the AusAID Family Planning Guidelines that denied women in other countries information and services on reproductive health and safety were removed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The lack of representation of women on public and corporate boards and committees, a serious long standing issue listed in our open letter, has been deteriorating, and no serious attempts have been made by government to redress the situation by mandatory change and targets or quotas.

Some issues cited in our open letter are under study or review and include Amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act and the need for a Charter of Rights. Reports to government on these two are expected, but they are more likely to be dealt with after the next election, when we all hope there will be a less obstructionist Senate. The need to halt the undue influence of money in politics by Political Donations Reform was responded to during the time that Senator Faulkner held the relevant portfolio, but the Senate would not pass his Bills, so nothing has changed.

Following a Women Into Politics submission, Women Into Politics was invited to appear before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations for their “inquiry into pay equity and associated issues related to increasing female participation in the workforce.” Joan Bielski, Anne Barber and Barbara McGarity appeared and spoke of the need for improved data collection and dissemination of information, reinstating the functions of the former Women’s Bureau, education about pay equity and workplace issues, a new education unit, and further legislation to address pay equity and retirement income issues.

The issue of Paid Maternity (Parental) Leave, also listed in our open letter, has progressed to legislation being drafted. There are some difficulties and disappointments, in that the legislation has cast it less as a workplace entitlement and more as welfare, just as women thought that real paid leave for maternity would be on the table, even if in a subdued form.

It is heartening to report that Elizabeth Broderick, the current Sex Discrimination Commissioner, who has been pursuing pay equity issues and paid maternity leave, has recently been speaking out about the gap between men’s and women’s retirement incomes and the design of the superannuation system, which she called a “grave and pressing issue.” Many women end up “in poverty in retirement as a result of gender inequality at every point in their life cycle – and because they do society’s caring work,” (Sydney Morning Herald 15 September 2009). A national social insurance scheme and an expanded co-contribution scheme have been suggested as part of the solution. In the workforce, women face pay inequity and the 17% gender gap in earnings; and they frequently experience resentment for taking maternity leave.

Finally, Women Into Politics was angered and alarmed to read that in Queensland a young couple has been charged with procuring an abortion for the young woman by importing RU486. It is high time that abortion was abolished from the criminal law in all states, as it has been in Victoria and the ACT. This is something that could be dealt with through the Council of Australian Governments, which can pursue agreement to act to remove this health issue from the criminal law in each state.

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Committee

Our group of stalwarts maintained the efforts of the Committee during the year, and Joan Bielski continued as Deputy-President, Judith Steanes as Honorary Secretary, Valerie Levy as Honorary Treasurer, and once again we thank our honorary accountant Penny Harrington and our Honorary Auditor Anna Logan. Anne Barber is our public officer and continued her work with the website.

Barbara McGarity, President

Women Into Politics Inc. 22 September 2008

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