SENATOR JENNY MCALLISTER
SHADOW CABINET SECRETARY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE LABOR LEADER IN THE SENATE
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMMUNITIES AND THE PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE
LABOR SENATOR FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

 
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
TUESDAY, 24 AUGUST 2021
 
SUBJECT: Scott Morrison’s record of failure in responding to the needs of Australian women. 
 
SENATOR JENNY MCALLISTER, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMMUNITIES AND THE PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE: Good morning. It's three years since Scott Morrison became the Prime Minister. And he has presided over a complete lack of trust from Australian women. 
 
Australian women are demanding that government listen to the concerns that they are raising, about their economic security, about their safety, about their status and standing in all aspects of our society. But there is no indication that there is a listening ear from this Prime Minister. 
 
And he continues eight years of coalition inaction and neglect when it comes to the interests of women. They had been indifferent to the rising cost of childcare that make every extra day that are part time woman takes up not really worth it. They have been indifferent to the rising concerns about violence, the unacceptable rates of violence in our homes. They asked women to raid their own superannuation balances, to pay for their own costs during the pandemic that crushed women's workforce opportunities. And just now we have learned that the gender pay gap is actually increasing under this government once again. Australian women deserve a whole lot more. 
 
Now, in just over a week, there's going to be a women's safety summit. Women shouldn't have had to wait for a summit for Scott Morrison to act on the many things he could do now. He could introduce paid domestic violence leave today. He could allocate adequate levels of funding to shelters today. There are a range of things that the government could have been doing all this time if they were serious about women's safety. But these things have not been attended to over eight long years, and they certainly haven't been attended to during the period in which Scott Morrison has been the Prime Minister. 
 
Australian women are looking for leadership that they can trust. They're looking for empathy. They're looking for understanding of the particular circumstances that they are confronting. And there's absolutely no evidence that Scott Morrison, as Prime Minister understands any of these things at all.
 
ENDS
 
MEDIA CONTACT: LEILA STENNETT: 0436 632 388