STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms MASCARENHAS (Swan) (13:53): While doorknocking during the last federal election campaign, I remember telling a woman that the Labor Party would pay superannuation on paid parental leave. At that moment she was like, 'Stop it; you've got my vote,' because women retire with 26 per cent less superannuation than men, and that's because of the gender pay gap and taking time out of the workforce to look after children.

What's interesting is that One Nation's superannuation policy wants to take women backwards. There's a risk to this policy that won't make the headlines, and that's financial abuse, one of the most insidious forms of coercive control. One in six women have experienced economic abuse from a partner.

One Nation's plan to raid super early doesn't just widen the gender pay gap; it opens the door to more abusers using superannuation as another form of control. I sat on the parliamentary inquiry into financial abuse, where we heard that up to 70,000 women may have withdrawn their superannuation, during the pandemic's early-release scheme, after being pressured by an abusive partner.

Easier access to super means that it's easier to exploit. One Nation is a party that said that domestic violence is a two-way street and has accused women of lying. It's a party you can't trust.