Page 2857 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 22 November 1989
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I think this item is important for women in the outer areas of the city of Canberra who, in common with some of the women who live in the outer suburbs of western Sydney, live considerable distances away from their opportunities to work. They also have some problems with getting to places of entertainment and they have problems because they are tied down with young children. They have particular concerns about their ability to either return to the work force or increase their self-esteem.
Therefore, I and the Rally support strongly any considered proposals. I do not mean just throwing money out the window for money's sake, but considered proposals to provide assistance to enable women to re-enter the paid work force, particularly in these days of increasing budgetary constraint within the family. I think it is highly appropriate for this figure of $50,000 to be provided for that service, and the Rally encourages it. On that basis we are unable to support Mr Stefaniak's amendment.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister) (4.05): Mr Speaker, I will be very brief. I am absolutely appalled at this proposed amendment. Earlier this week I announced the membership of the Women's Consultative Council and at the same time I released a booklet on the economic position of women in the ACT. It is called Getting the Picture, and I would recommend it thoroughly to all members in this Assembly. The information contained in the booklet provides a very clear picture of the economic status of women in the ACT, and it is not all that flattering to the ACT, let me tell you. It shows that, as for women everywhere in Australia, they earn less, they have fewer opportunities for training and fewer options available to them to enter or re-enter the paid work force. In short, we have a very great deal of work to do, and in many areas we are well behind the national average in looking after the economic position of women in the ACT.
Any party that can propose these kinds of amendments that target women, and women's employment in particular, I believe, has to have a very serious look at its own priorities and its own motives for so doing. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the proposals that are contained in the budget here are the very minimum that any responsible and fair-minded government could do to assist women in the ACT to take a full place in the economic life of this Territory. It is to my regret that we did not have the funds available to do a very great deal more than this.
I note that Mr Stefaniak appears to have weakened slightly on his proposed cuts to the antidiscrimination activities. I would like to point out that the experience in other States is that antidiscrimination activities largely revolve around women and that complaints of discrimination very heavily tend to be from women, from women from non-English speaking backgrounds, and tend to be work force related. So again I regard those antidiscrimination
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