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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 02 Hansard (Thursday, 4 March 2004) . . Page.. 766 ..

independence, it is still an issue in this country and no doubt in other developing countries.

Interestingly, the issue of family decisions and work came up again at the first conference of women parliamentarians in Australia, held in Victoria last year. Women parliamentarians in Australia are very concerned that the issue of the relationship between families and work is not taken seriously in this country. I hope that all members in this Assembly are prepared to pay a bit more attention to that. That is why I have suggested that it might be useful for the Assembly to set up a Commonwealth women parliamentarians group. The CWP group encourages all branches to do that, to facilitate more conversations around the difficulties. Mind you, I still say that men can be involved in that as much as women because it can affect them just as much.

This is not about cliches; it is about things happening in our society that we feel strongly about. I believe that International Women’s Day is something we feel strongly about, as does Mrs Dunne, but she feels that it is not really achieving its purpose. I disagree with that. I think there is always a place for a celebration of strengths. Within that context we also talk about weaknesses and where we can go. I am appreciative of the opportunity to speak on this matter of public importance that Ms MacDonald has raised today.

MRS BURKE (4.09): I thank Ms MacDonald for putting this matter of public importance on the notice paper to give us an opportunity to have a say with regard to the aspects that we feel are important. I would like to focus on women in politics in the 21st century, especially in relation to International Women’s Day. Ms Tucker is quite right; we are not going to win this battle on our own. It is more than a tongue-in-cheek attitude. In fathers forums and suchlike many men have made mention of an International Men’s Day, which strikes an interesting note. The point I am making, Ms Tucker, is that after all we need to be working with men to ensure that we women have a stronger voice. We cannot do it against men; we need to try another tack.

I hail International Women’s Day as an important event, but I think we need to make sure that there is some duality about it—that we get men on side. In 2001 the then Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women, Senator Amanda Vanstone, in celebrating International Women’s Day gave a strong message. She said:

A woman’s place is in the house…and in the Senate and the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly.

How right she was. I believe women will continue to play a vital role in the changing face of politics now and into the future. Women have an enormous opportunity to present a very different yet complementary, vibrant, dynamic and colourful face within our political system, based upon their own unique ability, which obviously causes them to see things in a very different light from their male counterparts. That is why we really are blessed in this Assembly with a strong female balance, which hopefully tempers some of the strong male debate that goes on.

It is a fact that the face of modern politics—I use that term advisedly—needs to undergo a radical lift in order that politicians are more highly regarded than they presently are. As politicians, at every level we need to continually assess why we are doing the job we are

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