Page 359 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 February 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Even in the health arena, the Labor Government has dramatically overlooked the needs of Canberra women and women in Australia. It is interesting that earlier Mr Berry was talking about mammography; what about densitometry? Most women at some stage suffer from problems with osteoporosis. Under a coalition government densitometry will be available as a Medicare schedule item. There was nothing to stop the ACT Labor Government going ahead with something that is exceedingly needed in our health environment but they did not. I think all we can do is thank goodness that there will be a change coming up in the very near future, when real changes and real opportunities will be presented to ACT women.
MS ELLIS (3.51): Madam Speaker, I find it quite amazing and a little bit appalling - frightening in fact - that the people opposite bring this subject up today and more than once espouse the virtues of a Federal leader who has the sort of attitude to women that he displayed on the TV news that I saw last week. We are talking about perceptions here and we are talking about how people form their opinions and their stance on particular subjects. The subject happens to be women and the status of women. The perception that Dr Hewson has of women horrifies me. He stood in a press conference, in some location somewhere around the country one day last week, mopping the floor. He turned around and picked the mop up and stood it head up and said, "Have you met my friend? I will introduce you to her". You can pooh-pooh if you like; it is the same man who said that Mr Carr is not a man because he has no children and does not drive cars. It is a person who at any person's cost will do what he can to get a cheap laugh. I find it pretty appalling.
Madam Speaker, I have been more than interested to hear some of the speakers in this debate today. I find it particularly surprising that the Liberals are now showing any concern at all for women's choices and opportunities, because in my experience this is one area that they have had little or no interest in historically. It is also surprising that the Opposition finds fault with the Government's achievements in this area as their lack of interest corresponds directly with their own lack of policy and action in the area.
As the Chief Minister has stated today, the ACT Government has a series of successful programs which assist in providing choice and opportunity for women of all ages and backgrounds in the ACT. This has particularly occurred for women in paid employment; however there are many other areas integral to providing support and assistance that are not directly related to employment. In the areas of law reform, child-care and community based programs and education, women in the ACT are benefiting from this progressive Government's policy and funding directions. There are several recent initiatives that provide extra assistance and protection for women who are victims of domestic violence. One very important development has been the introduction of reciprocal recovery of orders. Victims who reside in other States can now register domestic violence protection orders at the ACT Magistrates Court. This offers protection for women who may leave the State in which the offence occurred and who move to the ACT and choose to have a safe environment.
The Community Law Reform Committee of the ACT has recently issued a discussion paper on domestic violence. This is the first stage in a wideranging review of the effectiveness of the current Domestic Violence Act. There will be intensive public consultation on this review, with public hearings set down for March this year. This will ensure that the protection of victims of domestic
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .