Joanne Ryan
Lalor · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“I understand how difficult it is for those opposite. Having voted in support of this legislation, they've seen their vote overturned by their Senate colleagues. I understand that they're disappointed.”
“It's a four-page document that does two clear things. It gives the eSafety Commissioner something she has asked for. She has asked for a law that will allow her to compel documents in her investigation as to why big tech companies are not complying with the laws set by this country, set by this House and the other place.”
“These silos create delays and delays can mean claims held up, care interrupted, families unsupported and risks unseen. The failure this bill confronts is not a lack of courage from those who served but a lack of connection in the systems built to support them.”
“The Albanese government agreed or agreed in principle to 104 recommendations, and, significantly, this bill implements 15 recommendations and supports a further 20.”
“Schedule 1 of this bill strengthens information sharing to improve wellbeing, health and safety outcomes for Defence members and to limit the risk. The royal commission found that defence and veterans systems hold critical information but that information has too often been fragmented, delayed or unavailable when needed.”
“It is 1 July today, and that means pay rises for three million workers around this country and tax cuts for all Australian workers. This is good news for my community. And you know what else is good news in my community?”
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“It's a four-page document that does two clear things. It gives the eSafety Commissioner something she has asked for. She has asked for a law that will allow her to compel documents in her investigation as to why big tech companies are not complying with the laws set by this country, set by this House and the other place. She's asked for that. It does one other thing. It raises the fines for big tech if they're found guilty of being noncompliant with Australian law. This is world leading legislation that had bipartisan support, driven for a long time. This is not rushed. Nothing about this has actually been rushed. There was a joint inquiry.”
“I understand how difficult it is for those opposite. Having voted in support of this legislation, they've seen their vote overturned by their Senate colleagues. I understand that they're disappointed. To the children in the gallery and the families that are with us today: we're debating something we call a matter of public importance, and today it really is a matter of public importance, because we are debating why the Senate has voted to prolong or delay the enactment of this piece of legislation—which is an addition, if you like, to Australia's world-leading bipartisan legislation that was designed to make big tech companies responsible for enacting— (Quorum formed) This is the legislation that those opposite are suggesting is really difficult and needs a three-month inquiry. Front cover, table of contents—it's a four-page document!”
“This bill will be remembered as part of a pathway whereby Australia will not only honour those who serve but build a future where every veteran, every serving member and every family can be seen, supported and able to look forward with hope. I commend this bill to the House.”
“We cannot bring back those we have lost, and that is the heartbreak at the centre of this, but we can honour them by refusing to let the same failures continue. We can build systems that see people earlier, that listen to families, that share information responsibly and that understand that transition is a vulnerable chapter in a human life, not simply a date on a form. A nation that sends people to serve must not leave them to suffer alone. A parliament that hears the evidence must not look away. A government that accepts responsibility must act. The measure of our gratitude is whether our systems are there when the uniform comes off, when the injury is invisible, when the family is frightened and/or when the person who served reaches out for help.”
“It strengthens Defence health services, recognises family, supports safe separation from violence, improves transition and continuity of care, strengthens integrity in the ADF and supports oversight and accountability. Most importantly, it says that the lives of serving members, veterans and families are not administrative matters but national responsibility. To veterans and Defence families in Lalor, I say: your service, grief, frustration and advocacy have not been ignored. To those who gave evidence to the royal commission, I say: your courage is now part of the law-making of this nation. To families who carry in their hearts names that should still be spoken at birthday tables, graduations, weddings and Sunday lunches, I say: this parliament heard you.”
“I acknowledge the work of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel in progressing these reforms and the ongoing work across government to respond to the royal commission with the seriousness, care and urgency it deserves. The royal commission forced Australia to look directly at grief. It forced us to confront the gap between the honour we express for service and the support we sometimes fail to deliver after service. We cannot say, 'Thank you for your service,' and then leave people to fight the system alone. This bill does not do everything, because no single bill could. However, it changes the machinery of government so it is better able to act before it is too late. It gives agencies clearer authority to share information where that sharing supports wellbeing, health and safety.”
“I'm the proud granddaughter of a serviceman from World War I who fought at Gallipoli and at the Somme, and I am the granddaughter, also, of Kit McNaughton, who served as a nurse in World War I at Lemnos and in France. When she returned from that war, she joined others to fight for recognition of their service, so I have a critical understanding of how important it is to be a member of parliament working for our defence service personnel and for those veterans. This bill sits alongside other reforms already progressed by the government, including the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission and the new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency. It is part of a broader program of work to make the defence and veterans ecosystem more responsive, more accountable and more human.”
“It will matter when a veteran lodges a claim and does not have to repeat the same painful story again and again. It will matter when a partner receives information before crisis point. It will matter when a family gets help navigating transition rather than being left to guess which agency is responsible. It will matter when data identifies a pattern early enough for intervention. It will matter when a clinician can speak honestly in a quality review so that the system can improve. It will matter when a former partner who experienced family violence can safely separate because support does not vanish when it is needed most. Most of all, it will matter when a person at risk is seen by the system before they disappear from it. Prevention is not just a recommendation or a policy idea when the risk is a human life.”
“Schedule 5 of the bill makes minor amendments that support the operation of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission. These amendments support the independence, transparency and accountability of oversight mechanisms established following the royal commission. Oversight matters because reform cannot depend on goodwill alone. Reform must be built into institutions, measured over time, reviewed honestly and sustained beyond the moment of political attention. The defence and veterans system must be accountable not only for what it promises but for what it delivers. The importance of this bill will not be found only in the words written on paper. Its importance will be found in the lives it helps, the families it helps reach and the harm it helps prevent.”
“These reforms are about integrity, safety, accountability and public confidence. The men and women who serve Australia deserve to serve in an institution where serious violence and sexual offending are met with clarity and with consequence. The uniform of this country carries honour, and the standards attached to it must be clear. The schedule also consolidates 'fit and proper person' requirements and improves end-of-service arrangements. It provides clear and fair processes, including safeguards where convictions are overturned or pardons are granted. This matters because the ADF is not just another workplace; it is an institution built on trust, on discipline, on responsibility and on the confidence of the Australian people. Accountability and fairness are not opposites. In a decent system, they stand together.”
“Where a family might be managing financial pressure—for example, mortgage pressure—safe separation is not a slogan; it is a practical question about where a partner or child will sleep tonight, how they will get their children to school and who they can call for help. No-one should be trapped in violence because bureaucracy cannot recognise the reality of their life. No family should be made less safe because support ends at the very moment courage begins. Schedule 4 of this bill strengthens requirements for service in the Australian Defence Force. It ensures people convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for serious, violent or sexual offences cannot join the ADF. It also introduces mandatory discharge for ADF members who are sentenced to imprisonment by an Australian court.”
“It also includes an opt-out mechanism, respecting privacy, autonomy and choice. Importantly, this schedule also addresses family and domestic violence. It ensures former partners of ADF members are not suddenly cut off from assistance where family and domestic violence is present and support is needed for safe separation. Family and domestic violence can involve control over money, housing, transport, information and the ability to leave. If a person cannot safely separate because the system cuts them off at the very moment they need help, then the system becomes part of the danger.”
“The bill establishes for the first time a comprehensive legislative basis for defence health services. It clarifies who works in the system, what services are provided and how health information may be used. Schedule 3 of the bill strengthens support for ADF families, and this is one of the most human parts of the bill. The royal commission made clear that families are not bystanders in the defence and veteran experience. Families are often the first to notice when something is wrong. They are often the first responders in the home, making phone calls, filling out forms, attending appointments and holding everything together. This schedule allows Defence to communicate more directly with families about available services, payments and supports where appropriate.”
“This is information sharing for prevention, for early intervention, for continuity of care and for saving lives. For a veteran, this could mean that DVA receives information earlier so a claim can be processed more quickly. For a serving member leaving the ADF, it could mean transition support before the final day in uniform, critically, not months later when a crisis has already developed. A system that learns can change. A system that refuses to share what it knows is condemned to repeat its failures. Schedule 2 of the bill modernises the legislative framework for defence health services. The defence health service system has a unique role because it must keep members fit to serve while also supporting their lifetime health, wellbeing and safety.”
“Schedule 1 of this bill strengthens information sharing to improve wellbeing, health and safety outcomes for Defence members and to limit the risk. The royal commission found that defence and veterans systems hold critical information but that information has too often been fragmented, delayed or unavailable when needed. This schedule creates a clearer legal authority for information to be used for research— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 17:11 to 17:21 This schedule creates clearer legal authority for information to be used for research, data analysis and evaluation relating to wellbeing, health and safety. These powers are balanced by privacy safeguards, including ministerial guidelines, de-identification where appropriate and alignment with the Privacy Act framework.”
“A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 16:59 to 17:10 It matters to the partner in Tarneit seeing the warning signs but not knowing who to call or what support is available. It matters to the family in Wyndham Vale facing transition, only to find that the information that is needed to support them is caught between agencies. It matters to children in Hoppers Crossing and Manor Lakes who live with the ripple effects of service long after the uniform has been put away. When systems do not connect, families carry the load. When records do not move, people fall through the cracks. When agencies cannot share information responsibly, risk becomes invisible.”
“I want to acknowledge the work of the Werribee RSL and the work of the Vietnam veterans, who've done such important work, and the wider network of local veteran organisations, volunteers, advocates and families who continue to support our veteran community. Their work reminds us that support for veterans is not only delivered through legislation but through local relationships, trusted community connections and people who keep showing up. This bill matters to them because, as they have relayed to me time and time again, it has often been a struggle to support young veterans, to connect those things for them, to interact with systems. This bill matters to a veteran in Werribee navigating a DVA claim while keeping work, supporting family and managing their health. It matters to the partner seeing the warning signs.”
“These silos create delays and delays can mean claims held up, care interrupted, families unsupported and risks unseen. The failure this bill confronts is not a lack of courage from those who served but a lack of connection in the systems built to support them. This bill is about a system that can see risk earlier, can respond faster and can support people before that crisis becomes tragedy. I also speak on this bill as the member for Lalor, representing communities across Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook, Truganina, Wyndham Vale, Manor Lakes and Mambourin. These reforms matter in Lalor. They matter in my community because veterans and defence families live in these suburbs. They're raising their children in our suburbs, their kids are attending our schools, and they sit at kitchen tables trying to make sense of complicated systems.”
“The Albanese government agreed or agreed in principle to 104 recommendations, and, significantly, this bill implements 15 recommendations and supports a further 20. These changes are a very good thing because they move us from a system that too often waited for people to fall through the cracks to a system built to see them, support them and reach them before crisis may turn to tragedy. This bill matters because the royal commission made clear that the system supporting defence personnel, veterans and families have not always been connected enough, fast enough or human enough. Too often, people have had to tell their story again and again, and we know that leads to deepening trauma, while the system that should have supported them could not speak to itself. Information has too often been trapped in silos between Defence and DVA.”
“There are moments in this parliament when we are not simply debating legislation but answering a national moral obligation. This is one of those moments. The Defence Legislation Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 2) Bill 2026 is part of Australia's response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. It speaks to service and sacrifice, grief and responsibility and the duty we owe to those who have worn the uniform of our nation. This bill is about making sure that when a person serves this country they and their family are not left to navigate a disconnected system alone. It is about making sure 'thank you for your service' is matched by systems that work when people need them. The royal commission delivered its final report on 19 September 2024, making 122 recommendations.”
“Both support young families like those I represent and support the country's productivity. To those looking to invest in housing, there are still opportunities in our growth corridor. There are plenty of opportunities for new builds in the growth corridors around our country.”
“It is 1 July today, and that means pay rises for three million workers around this country and tax cuts for all Australian workers. This is good news for my community. And you know what else is good news in my community? In postcodes 3029 and 3030, we have the country's highest numbers of people accessing the five per cent deposit scheme and living in their own home, establishing themselves and getting that foot on that first rung of opportunity—not surprising in a growth corridor and a community bursting with young families. They're now in a position to pay their own mortgage rather than paying rent on an investor's mortgage. I'm proud to be a member of the Albanese Labor government, which supports young families with an expansion of child care from 1 July—from today—and, of course, an expansion of the PPL from today.”
“We're looking after people across this country because we want to build together a wonderful Australia where everybody belongs and everybody gets a leg up on the ladder of opportunity.”
“They're designed to support us, to support our community, to value the work and labour of every worker, and to create equity in the way workers' incomes are taxed compared to investors'. It's creating a level playing field so those young boys on that footy field can buy their first homes. It's for the people across my community, like the thousands of people who've accessed the five per cent deposit, and the 1,800 people I've witnessed become citizens in the last month and go from permanent residents to proud Australian citizens. It's always a pleasure to be with them. We're looking after small business. We've got the loss carryback provisions coming in. We're making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent.”
“Whether it's attending a refugee week event with the Australian Karen Organisation, as I did on the weekend; whether it's attending the Teeyan Festival with our local Punjabi women—a shout out to Sharma Bhangu, who's been running that festival now for 16 years—or whether it's listening to Aunty Judy deliver a beautiful welcome to country in language on Saturday night, my community reflects modern Australia. It reflects our country beautifully, wherever you touch down in our country or in my community. This Labor government, this federal Albanese Labor government, is focused on the welfare of everyone across this country but also focused on our place in the world and creating a future where we all get a fair go. That's why this week and today are so important—because we're going to pass the tax reforms. They'll pass the House today.”
“I want to thank Mark Penaluna for the great welcome that he always gives me when I make it to the club. I recently visited classrooms at the Grange and Westgrove schools across the last couple of weeks and talked to young students about civics and citizenship. The learning they're doing around the three levels of government is amazing. I always do a bit of a pop quiz, and these young people are being beautifully prepared for our democracy. They understand the separation of powers. They understand the three levels of government and some of those responsibilities.”
“I have been pleased, across the last few weeks, to get to a few Werribee VFL games with the Werribee Football Club. We've been on a winning streak—four games in a row—which puts us second on the ladder. There's a thrill in going to watch the local boys, and we've got five local boys playing for Werribee this year, which is fantastic. Whether it's watching Jordan Busuttil goal from the centre; Noah Tullio run into the goal line to snap a quick one; Josh Kellett—he's recovering from injury, but I can't wait to see him back—or Jake Smith on the wing, it's fantastic to watch those local boys strutting their stuff at Chirnside Park. And to watch Ajang Kuol Mun learn his craft in the ruck and start kicking goals for Werribee has been fantastic.”
“My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering better outcomes for working Australians? And what could put this progress at risk?”
“These reforms sit alongside our broader investments in Medicare, including in Lalor—the over 35,000 visits to our Medicare urgent care clinic. This budget is making Medicare urgent care clinics a permanent feature of our health system. We've also doubled the number of fully bulk-billed clinics to 41 clinics across Lalor so locals can see a GP for free as long as they have their Medicare card. Our cheaper-medicines policies have saved locals in Lalor $13 million on over 2.1 million scripts. (Time expired)”
“I know that the clinic in my community is, as we speak, reaching out to GPs in my community to include them in these networks. This is, powerfully, going to change health treatment for women across our country, not just in these clinics. For too many women, years of pain were dismissed. Too often, women were told their symptoms were normal or that they simply had to live with them. These clinics provide understanding, support and a pathway to diagnosis—and, more importantly, treatment. We cannot underestimate the economic impact of the pain that these women suffer from and the lack of treatment compounding that. This is what happens when women's health is treated as a national priority. It means cheaper medicines, it means a stronger Medicare and it means better access to specialist care.”
“Importantly, this government, under Minister Butler, Assistant Minister White, Assistant Minister McBride and Assistant Minister Cooper in the last term have established a national network of endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. Recently, we announced an additional 11 clinics across Australia, including one in the heart of my community, in Werribee. This brings the total number of clinics nationwide to 33. I've had the Prime Minister visit and I've had Assistant Minister White visit our local clinic. During both visits, we heard from clinicians who spoke directly about the differences these services are making. What impressed me most about those conversations was hearing that it is actually building the entire GP network's understanding and capacity to treat and support women in these spaces.”
“But improving women's health is about more than cheaper medicines; it's also about ensuring women can access the care and support they need through a stronger Medicare system. Already, more than 71,000 women have accessed Medicare-funded menopause health assessments. This is breakthrough stuff. We've introduced new Medicare items and increased rebates for gynaecological care, making specialist treatment more affordable and accessible. Around 430,000 additional services have been delivered for women experiencing endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, chronic pelvic pain and other gynaecological conditions. We've also made it easier and cheaper to access long-acting reversible contraception, including IUDs and contraceptive implants.”
“These reforms, importantly, are already making a difference. Since the package was introduced, more than 700,000 women have accessed cheaper PBS prescriptions. Women are paying less for contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies and treatments for conditions such as endometriosis. This government delivered the first new contraceptive pill listed on the PBS in more than 30 years and the first new menopausal hormone therapies listed in over 20 years. These are reforms women had been waiting decades to see, and it took a majority-female government to deliver on them. For women living with endometriosis, the impact has been significant. More than 7,000 women have accessed around 30,000 PBS scripts for endometriosis treatments, saving an estimated $5.7 million.”
“For far too long, women's health was overlooked and underfunded. There was a government—a 9½-year-long government—that failed in exactly this place. I stand tonight to applaud this budget, because too many women struggled to access affordable treatment, too many conditions were poorly understood and too many women were told to simply live with the pain. This was despite women from the former government raising issues about pelvic pain and endometriosis. But there was never a program or funding to follow until Labor came to government and we made women's health a priority. That commitment is reflected in our landmark women's health package, representing an investment of almost $800 million to deliver more choice, lower costs and better health care for women and girls across Australia. We are building, budget to budget, in this space.”
“And I'm really proud that, at auctions this Saturday, first home buyers won't have so many investors trying to outbid them to purchase that first home. House adjourned at 16:59”
“I'm really pleased that we've landed in that space, because otherwise they'd feel that we didn't have faith in them or that we weren't supporting them. So I'm really pleased that that's the case. But I'm more pleased that we've got it right so that future people who want to invest in property will be encouraged by the positioning to invest in new builds so that we can support the supply of housing and increase that supply and put downward pressure on the rising price of houses. I'm really thrilled about this budget because I think it gets that right. For someone who represents working people who mostly pay income tax on income derived from their labour, I'm really proud that we're going to balance that up.”
“It is hard to fathom that the average price of a home in the city of Wyndham is now about $650,000. This budget is about making sure that the kids who grow up in Victoria can afford to buy a house in what we consider to be the affordable suburbs that I represent. That's what this budget's about. In my vast, multicultural community, there are a lot of people who, once they've bought that first home and the minute they can afford it, buy an investment property. There are a lot of families who have done that in my space. I'm really proud that this budget has landed in a place where their investments and the processes around those investments have been grandfathered so that they can continue to negatively gear that property.”
“So in the debate that has been occurring around homeownership, my views might be slightly different to people who represent inner city seats because mine is not a community where parents say, 'My child's priced out and can't buy a home where we live now.' Mine is the community where the children of someone from the inner city are coming to buy their first home because we are still the place for affordable housing. Let's just put that into perspective. I'm talking to Victorians. Let's put Sydney aside, because Victorians struggle to even think about house prices in Sydney, and I know the Assistant Treasurer will be nodding along with me. When I bought my first home in Werribee, I bought a home on spec. I was a teacher, and my husband was an electrician. We bought a home on spec for $62,000.”
“My first memory of seeing the population sign in Werribee, where I was born, was when it said 13,000. The city of Wyndham, which is the extrapolation of that small country town of Werribee, now has a population of over 330,000. I was elected in 2013. In 2013, I was the member for Lalor, and my electorate was the city of Wyndham. Thirteen years later, I'm the member for Lalor with half the city of Wyndham. The growth has been extraordinary and sustained over 40 years. There has been sustained dramatic growth because we are the place in Melbourne where people move to build that affordable home or purchase that affordable home.”
“Two weeks ago, the Treasurer delivered the fifth Albanese Labor government budget. It was a strong, measured budget set to deliver for every Australian. Most importantly, it included fundamental tax reforms, making our tax system fairer for generations to come. To echo the words of the Treasurer, and those of the Assistant Treasurer in the chamber today, our tax reforms are built on three core objectives: delivering tax cuts for every Australian worker, making it easier for Australians to get into their first home and better aligning the tax treatment of those who earn their income from work, from their labour, with those who earn income derived from assets to get a level playing field in that space so that we can level the playing field for people to actually get their first asset. I represent a community that has grown.”
“While the road to economic equity may be long, we've shown that smart targets and targeted measures work, having women in the cabinet room works, having women in the caucus works and having women in parliament works. To the women in my electorate, to those with children, to those without children, to women over 65, to those struggling to put food on the table, to those doing as much as they can—catching early trains to work, getting on a train at 6 am, getting off a train at 6 pm, picking up the kids from child care before you go home with your partner, perhaps, to cook dinner and get ready for the next day—to all of you: this government has your back.”
“And there are single parents who are doing so in a two per cent deposit scheme. This is really going to make a difference in communities like mine. Where to next? Where does Labor look next on this road to gender equity? Efforts on the gender pay gap are important, and they've seen us gaining ground on that equality target. The pay gap is the easiest to measure. Superannuation is another target we need, as is an income gap and an asset gap, because income, as many of us found out in this budget, is not just what you earn in your job but what you earn from your assets. What's the target there? Can we measure those things into the future to make a real difference on our road to equality? As I said before, we measure what we care about.”
“We're also growing the National Immunisation Program in pharmacies in a push to increase childhood vaccination rates. I know parents in my electorate will welcome these investments because they provide reassurance that every family deserves. Obviously, this budget locks in Medicare urgent care clinics permanently. This is an absolutely incredible thing for a community like mine. We've also improved bulk-billing rates, with 82 per cent of GP clinics in Lalor now bulk-billing. We're levelling the playing field by reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax, making it easier for Australians to buy their first home. This sort of stability is life-changing, as the over 5,000 people in my electorate who've already secured a home with the five per cent deposit scheme are testament to.”
“This is great for families, great for women, and mostly sees children at the busiest times on the weekend, post sport. This budget has also delivered a joint investment of $4 billion with states and territories to establish Thriving Kids. A $2 billion investment will provide Medicare Healthy Kids Check—a health assessment subsidised by Medicare to ensure the health and development of children aged three, referring them to appropriate support if required. This is critical for families, critical for mums and critical for children. Improved practice around early childhood development and culturally appropriate support through national workforce measures is also supported, and there's more support for children with autism and their families.”
“This budget includes further investments of $218 million to support 'Our ways—Strong ways—Our voices', the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander plan to end family, domestic and sexual violence 2026-36; $61 million for the 500 workers initiative supporting the frontline family, domestic and sexual violence workforce; and $11.7 million to continue the Family Violence and Cross-Examination of Parties Scheme, which provides legal supp for family law matters involving family, domestic and sexual violence. I've often spoken about the endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics around the country and particularly about the one in the heart of my electorate in Werribee, which is on the same site as the Medicare urgent care clinic.”
“The $250 working Australians tax offset will benefit 6.3 million working women from the 2027-28 income year; around 6.2 million women will benefit from changes allowing Australian workers to claim an instant tax deduction of up to $1,000 for work related expenses; 182.6 million will deliver significant changes to the child support system; and, since 2022, $4.4 billion has been invested in the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children.”
“So let's start measuring the economic impact of domestic violence and have that as part of the arsenal in the conversations to reduce domestic violence. Eligibility has expanded for the parenting payment single, increasing Commonwealth rent assistance by over 50 per cent and ending ParentsNext. And Australia is now ranked 13th internationally for gender equality. It is our highest ever ranking. We are setting Australian women up for success, which in turn sets up Australian families for success and sets up our children for success. The 2026-27 budget has built on this progress and made our investments larger than ever. We're making lasting change for generations to come.”
“Important and critical superannuation reforms are working to improve retirement outcomes for women and close the retirement income gap, something we also need to set some targets around. Our continued commitment to reducing the cost of medicines has saved women over $647 million on medicines and provided them with increased PBS access to contraceptives and menopause therapies. Who could believe that it has been 30 years since a new contraceptive was put on the PBS, and 20 years since a new hormonal menopausal therapy was put on the PBS? This is the work of the Labor government. We've provided 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave. Again, why? Because we measure the things we care about. We know that economic arguments often carry the day in this place.”
“What's also really important in my community is that, when women have economic security, they can make real choices for themselves and their children, alone or with a partner. They are free to do both. They are in relationships not because they need them but because they want to be there. That is critical in a journey to gender equity. Women are earning $291.60 more per week on average than they were in 2022. This is because of the measures put in place by this government. More than one million families have benefited from our investments in cheaper child care. Earning more and keeping more of what you earn is a bedrock of this government, and we've worked hard to get there. We've expanded paid parental leave, meaning eligible families will be $14,000 better off than they would have been in May 2022.”
“In this budget, our fifth budget, and our fifth Women's Budget Statement, we've reported the significant progress made towards gender equality since we came to government in 2022. It is essential that we invest in women and that we get it right. In a community like mine, with the highest number of nought- to four-year-olds in the country, there are lots and lots of young families, young couples starting out together, understanding that they're in an equal relationship—sharing responsibility for parenting, sharing responsibility for financial security, sharing responsibility for making that mortgage payment or saving for that deposit. These are all really important things in my community.”