QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Ms CATHERINE KING (Ballarat—Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) (14:12): Can I thank the member for Melbourne for the question. She has been a fierce advocate for women and for families all of her working life, and it's wonderful to have her here in this place. The government has achieved a lot of firsts for women's equality inside and outside of this place.
We're the first Commonwealth government to achieve a majority of women on the government benches and the first Commonwealth government to have more women than men around our cabinet table. There's the lowest gender pay gap in Australian history. It was 14.1 per cent when we came to office, and it is now 11.3 per cent.
And, as the Prime Minister has said, Australia is now ranked eighth in the World Economic Forum's Global gender gap report 2026, the first time Australia has ever ranked in the top 10. Since we came to office in 2022, this government has jumped 35 places in the global rankings. Under those opposite, we were 43rd after slipping to an all-time low of 50th under their leadership.
We are now eight out of 148 countries. It is an astonishing leap, and I'm sure those opposite would be scratching their heads as to what caused this remarkable turnaround in Australia's performance. They don't have to keep wondering why; the report itself makes it very clear.
It says: Australia's recent performance follows a clear inflection point: consecutive gains since 2023 have lifted what had previously been a largely flat trajectory. Can anybody tell me what had happened to shift that trajectory? It's been a deliberate policy of this government to build gender equality into everything that we do.
It's because of the policies and the actions of this government that Australia is becoming a more equal and a more fair society. It isn't a fluke; it's the result of intentional and meaningful work. It's our changes to help lower-income women build more retirement savings, something that One Nation, the National Party and the Liberals want to systematically undermine.
It's our decision to extend paid parental leave to six months and pay super on it. It's our commitment to lifting the wages of aged-care and early childhood education workers, two industries not only dominated by women but also crucial for women's participation in the workforce. The result of these and many changes is that women, on average, are getting paid $325 more each week than they were under those opposite.
That is real change that means Australian women and girls have more choice and a better chance of making decisions that are right for them. There is always more to do to continue our work to end violence against women, to build on the work in women's health, to close the gender pay gap further and to support women in leadership. But we are on the right path to making Australia the best place in the world for women and girls.