GRIEVANCE DEBATE
Ms COKER (Corangamite) (12:47): The choices a government makes make a great deal of difference and show a great deal about its values. For the Albanese Labor government, those values are crystal clear: we value families, we value opportunity, we value aspiration and equality, and we value the contribution women make every single day to their families, to their workplaces, to their communities and to our nation.
That's why so much of the work we do in this place is about creating opportunity for women, strengthening families and building a fairer Australia, because, when women do well, everyone benefits. Across my electorate of Corangamite in Victoria, I've spoken with countless women about the realities of balancing work and family. I've often spoken to mums preparing to welcome their first child, to women and men returning to work after parental leave, and to grandparents helping care for grandchildren during the school holidays, after school and over weekends so that their daughter can stay in the workforce and pursue a career.
While every family's story is different, the challenges they describe are remarkably similar: the pressures of paying the mortgage while taking time away from work, the cost of raising children, and the concern about whether taking time away from work today will affect their financial security tomorrow. These are real pressures. They are lived experiences.
That's why paid parental leave matters. From tomorrow, eligible families welcoming a new little person or adopting a child will be able to access up to 26 weeks of government funded paid parental leave. This really matters.
It means families accessing the full entitlement receive almost $30,000 in support—more than $1,000 a week. Because of our changes to the system, more families will be eligible as income thresholds increase. This means more time with the newborn, more financial security and more choice and flexibility for Australian families.
Being a first-time parent comes with so many unknowns and so much uncertainty. These reforms are designed to give parents the time and financial security to set up a family for success and share parenting duties. These changes to paid parental leave speak to our government's values.
We recognise that caring has value and that it's not always easy. For too long, women have paid an economic penalty for taking time out of paid work to raise children. This has contributed to women retiring with significantly less superannuation than men.
It has reinforced inequalities that last long after children have grown up. That's why paying superannuation on paid parental leave is such an important reform. It recognises that raising a family is one of the most important contributions anyone can make, and no parent should be financially disadvantaged in retirement simply because they choose to give their child the best possible start in life.
Supporting women and families is, of course, about far more than just one policy. It's about recognising the value of work that has too often been overlooked. No sector demonstrates that more clearly than Australia's care economy.
Whether it's the early childhood educator helping children learn and grow, the aged-care worker supporting an older Australian with dignity and compassion or the disability support worker helping someone live independently, these are professions built on care. They are professions that have traditionally been undertaken by women and, for far too long, they have been undervalued.
Our government has taken a different approach. We have invested in aged care. We have supported significant wage increases for both early years educators and aged-care workers.
We have expanded access to early childhood education because we know it helps give children the best start in life while making it easier for parents, particularly women, to participate in the workforce. These are investments in Australians. These are investments in women and in families.
These are reforms driven by the Albanese Labor government, and they are reforms built on values, but not everyone in this place shares our view on the value of these reforms. Australians have not forgotten when mothers were labelled 'double dippers' by former coalition treasurer Joe Hockey. They've not forgotten when women accessing paid parental leave were described as 'rorters'.
The member for Goldstein said, 'It's not my choice that women have children; it's genetic.' More recently we have heard calls to wind back workplace rights and attacks on paid parental leave itself. Senator Hanson is on the record stating that women get themselves pregnant for the money, and, more recently, when speaking directly to women across Australia, she said: 'You have the equipment.
That's what you're here for.' Those comments reveal a very different set of values. They reveal a disrespect for women. They suggest that caring is somehow less valuable, that supporting parents is an unnecessary expense and that investing in women is not only optional but, to some, unnecessary.
The Albanese government rejects that thinking, and so do Australians. We know that supporting women is not a cost; it's an investment. It's an investment in stronger families, an investment in a child's future, an investment in economic growth and an investment in a more equal Australia.
That is why our work does not stop with paid parental leave. We have made the leaving violence payment permanent. We've introduced 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave.
We are reforming the child support system to stop financial abuse. We're investing record funding to address family, domestic and sexual violence. We are strengthening women's economic security, at every stage of life.
Each reform is important on its own. Together, they tell a much bigger story. They tell the story of a government that believes women should have the opportunity to participate fully in our economy, to build financial security, to raise a family if they choose and to live free from violence.
There is still more work to do. There always will be. But tomorrow, on 1 July, another important step will be taken.
More families will receive paid parental leave. More women will receive superannuation while they care for a newborn. More parents will have the opportunity to spend those precious early months with their children.
That is what progress looks like, because the choices a government makes do matter. They reveal what we value. This government values women.
We value families. This government will continue building an Australia where every woman has the opportunity, the security and the support she deserves.