Page 735 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 March 2019
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MS CHEYNE: Minister, what are some of the changes that the ACT government is seeking for Canberra’s women and girls?
MS BERRY: I thank Ms Cheyne for the supplementary. Before I return to the reason why we do this, I need to mention that in addition to these three prestigious awards I also acknowledge Marcia Williams for her outstanding contribution to improving the status of women through her work over many years, most notably as Chair of the Domestic Violence Prevention Council and as CEO of the Women’s Centre for Health Matters. Many will know that Marcia’s tireless work at DVPC directly contributed to the safer families outcomes that have seen new policy directions developed to support those impacted by domestic and family violence.
I would also like to acknowledge Ms Helen Petrou, who passed away last year having given 19 years of service to the ACT Ambulance Service. Helen’s legacy as someone who espoused the belief that women can do anything will live on through the service. She is commended for her dedication and bravery over the many years that she served in our community.
Let me go to the question of why we do this. It is pretty simple: because we want the same opportunities provided to women and girls that are provided to everyone else, and we know that this is not always what we get. We are not asking for men to make way for women’s empowerment; we are saying that women should be able to decide and be able to do whatever they want to do: to have the same opportunities in their personal and professional lives as others do. And we want them to be safe. These awards acknowledge that there are some in our community who go beyond the call, who are committed to make change, make real change. We must continue to tell their stories about how they are working for better outcomes for everyone in our community.
MS ORR: Minister, what are the other ways that we can make Canberra a better place for women and girls?
MS BERRY: I thank Ms Orr for the supplementary. Last week the ACT was embroiled in public dialogue with a local business around sales and marketing strategies. I suggest that these sales and marketing strategies often do not meet community standards. Even though some in the opposition might say that that is okay—that it is okay to look at half-naked, dazed women selling a product—I do not see it that way. Do what you like in your own homes, but do not take the privilege of public advertising and exploit it in such a way that you offend such a large group of the population. The complaints that have come to me have hit home—the car conversations that have been had every time a family drives past this billboard.
The more we allow the presentation of uneven, biased imagery of men, women, boys and girls, like on the Nutri-Grain boxes that were identified by eight-year-old Daliah in Scullin, the more this serves to build a perception about who women are and who they are not. It snowballs with unconscious bias that we already have. I want my daughter and my son to see the images of normal women doing whatever they want to do, not just looking sexy on billboards. I do not want to see sexy women on
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