Page 3841 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 8 November 1994
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I believe that this Assembly has the best representation of women of any parliament in Australia. I think that the closest chamber to this Legislative Assembly, in terms of female representation, is the Senate. There are some prominent positions held by women in the Senate of the Commonwealth Parliament. I refer to Cheryl Kernot, the leader of the Democrats; and Christabel Chamarette and Dee Margetts, the Green senators in the Senate of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.
I am often asked, Madam Speaker, whether I support the quota system which has just been adopted by the Labor Party in terms of female representation in parliaments and as candidates for seats. I would like to state to this Assembly that I do support a quota system. I believe that it has taken many years for females to achieve any sort of representation in parliament. If we are looking to achieve the quota system towards the turn of the century, then it is quite acceptable, in my view. Both the Labor Party and the Independents in this Assembly have, of course, achieved 50 per cent representation. I believe, from memory, that nine of the 17 Labor candidates at the next ACT Legislative Assembly election in 1995 are women; currently, two of the six Moore Independent candidates for the election are women - Tina van Raay and I; and we are certainly looking at further women candidates at the election in 1995. I also note that six of the 17 Liberal candidates for election are women.
The Chief Minister's statement also refers to the 42 per cent representation of women on government boards and committees. I believe that the ACT Government is to be complimented on achieving the best results in Australia as regards female representation on government boards and committees. I do not agree with Mr Kaine's assertion that it is something that is of no interest to women in our community. I think it is of very significant interest to women in our community, and I certainly hope that we will approach 50 per cent representation in the very near future.
The Chief Minister also mentioned that two of our government agencies in the ACT are headed by women. They are the Department of Public Administration, which is headed by Maureen Cane; and the Department of Education and Training, which is headed by Cheryl Vardon. I would have to say that two of the many major government agencies is not very many at this stage. I guess that it will be some time before we have 50 per cent of our government agencies in the ACT headed by women.
I was interested in the Chief Minister's reference to the discussion paper Women and Parliament in Australia and New Zealand. I hope that she will distribute copies to members of the Assembly, as well as distributing it widely in the community. I agree that, to further encourage female participation in politics, it is important to make that discussion paper available in high schools and colleges in the ACT. I also agree that government programs, services and activities should be gender inclusive. The examples given by the Chief Minister, of the access and equity program and the social justice budget statement, certainly bear that out.
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