16 News

New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows the national gender pay gap is the lowest on record – today falling to 11.5 per cent from 12 per cent in November 2023, and 14.1 per cent in May 2022. Under the Albanese Government, women’s average weekly earnings have increased $173.80 a week since May 2022.

Labor came to government in 2022 with a commitment to drive action to close the gender pay gap. Since then, we have seen the gender pay gap drop to all-time lows over four consecutive reporting cycles.

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese:

“We came to Government with a commitment to help close the gender pay gap and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.

“That’s not a coincidence, it’s because the Government has taken action like banning pay secrecy clauses, modernising the bargaining system, enforcing transparent gender pay gap reporting and delivering pay rises for aged care and child care workers.”

Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher:

“Closing the gender pay gap means that women are taking home more money at the end of each week.

“Whether it be by boosting the pay of early childhood educators and aged care workers by 15 per cent, backing a pay rise for minimum wage workers or banning pay secrecy clauses – Labor is doing work right across the economy to lift women’s pay.

“This progress isn’t just good for women – it’s also good for men, good for children, good for the economy and good for the community.

“Closing the gender pay gap is a key ambition of Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality, because we know that it is both a driver and a result of inequality. We know there is still work to do and we will keep going.

“As well as lowest gender pay gap on record, we now also have reached a record high for women’s workforce participation at 63.2 per cent”

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Murray Watt:

“We’ve secured record pay rises for hundreds of thousands of women on award wages, fixed the bargaining system to get wages moving in feminised industries, and changed workplace laws to put gender equity at the heart of the Fair Work Commission’s decision-making.

“We said we’d get wages moving again and that’s exactly what’s happening.

“This is despite the Opposition opposing almost every single one of these measures and promising to repeal a range of Labor’s laws that are delivering better pay for Australian workers.

“At the same time the gap has narrowed, an extra 510,000 women are now in jobs since the Albanese Government came to office, with 60 per cent of these jobs full-time.”

The ABS average weekly earnings data can be found online: Average Weekly Earnings, Australia

Information on the gender pay gap can be on the WGEA website: The ABS data gender pay gap

On Friday, the Prime Minister announced at a press conference that he was going to abandon religious discrimination reform after the Opposition vetoed their legislation. 

This broken promise from Labor has received universal scorn from across the political aisle. Religious leaders, LGBTIQA+ community and Labor’s own voters expected Labor to deliver their election promise — not capitulate to Peter Dutton’s whims. 

The Australian Law Reform Commission’s report last year was a roadmap to reform everyone could agree to and Labor has had a clear pathway through the Senate, with the support of the Greens and crossbench, to deliver those recommendations in full. 

But to Labor, the only opinion that matters is Peter Dutton’s. 

Stephen Bates, Australian Greens LGBTIQA+ spokesperson

Yet another broken election promise from a Prime Minister too cowardly to do his job. Labor won the last election with a promise to protect LGBTIQA+ workers and people of faith from discrimination and he’s failed at both. 

Enough broken promises. If this government cares at all about LGBTIQA+ workers, they would move right now to remove section 38 of the Sex Discrimination Act like the Law Reform Commission said to. 

This Labor government has had the numbers to get this done for months and The Greens have offered time and again to work collaboratively to make this change. 

The LGBTIQA+ community wants protections. Communities of faith want protections. The vast majority of the country wants this positive and progressive change. 

When it comes to keeping progressive promises, it seems this Labor government is incapable of doing so without the sign off of the LNP. 

Sex discrimination reform on Friday. Makarrata Commission on Monday. How many election promises does Albanese plan on breaking this week?

Labor needs to realise that they are the government and have been for over two years. They have the power to implement progressive change with The Greens but it’s painfully clear that Labor has no intention of doing that. 

When the LNP are in government, they waste no time in implementing a radical conservative agenda. Now that Labor is in power, we are told their hands are tied and that they’d love to do nice things but can’t because Dutton won’t let them. No-one’s buying it. 
 

The Victorian Greens are calling for a moratorium on evictions for public housing residents following revelations that the Victorian Labor Government has secretly signed the demolition contracts to steamroll ahead with tearing down public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington. 

The Victorians Greens are bringing a motion before the Parliament today that stands up for residents who face being forced from their homes in North Melbourne and Flemington now that Labor has signed the demolition contracts. 

It comes as leaked documents recently revealed that Labor is pulling funding from multiple public and community housing, offering up land set aside from public and community housing to private developers and have signed this $100 million demolition contract with John Holland.

During question time on Tuesday, the Greens grilled Labor on whether the signing of the demolition contracts would be used to pursue legal action against residents, to which the government refused to give a straight answer. 

The Victorian Greens spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Samantha Ratnam said that Labor have clearly signed these contracts to have legal grounds to force evictions, which will displace hundreds of residents and tear their communities apart. 

She added that while Labor continues to pull funding from social and community housing and is handing over swathes of public land to developers, it’s impossible not to think that they will do the same with the towers. 

the Victorian Greens spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Samantha Ratnam: 

“We’re in a housing crisis and instead of building public housing, Victorian Labor is conducting a fire sale of public housing land and demolishing the public homes we have. 

“Labor has clearly signed these contracts in order to pursue legal action against residents and force evictions displacing hundreds of people who are currently living in the North Melbourne and Flemington towers. 

“We’re having thousands of conversations directly with residents who have no certainty about their future. 

“Labor has sold off hectares of public housing and land to private developers – now they’ve signed these contracts, how can Victorians have any confidence they won’t do the same to all 44 public housing towers?

“We won’t stop holding Labor’s feet to the fire on this. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis where we should be building more public housing on public land, not tearing down our existing housing and selling off public land to private developers for massive profits.” 

The Greens say Labor’s excuse for caving-in to the gambling lobby is shifty and they will test the Government with a Senate vote to ban gambling advertising in line with the Peta Murphy Inquiry recommendations. 

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is spokesperson for Communications and Manager of Greens Business in the Senate:

“Don’t buy Bill Shorten’s lie. Labor have caved in to the gambling lobby and they are scraping around for an excuse. The gambling lobby have had their claws in both the Labor and Liberal Party for far too long. 

“We can support public interest journalism in this country without sucking the life and happiness out of Australian families, forcing gambling addicts to pay the price. The Prime Minister of this country Anthony Albanese needs to stand up to the gambling lobby.

“Experts have told us we need to ban gambling advertising, like tobacco ads, and Labor will be tested on this question in the Senate when Greens amendments for a full gambling ad ban in line with the Peta Murphy recommendations are voted on.

“We should be banning gambling advertising, taxing the big tech corporations and funding public interest journalism. Gambling addiction is not the solution for public interest journalism. 

“It is incredible that only two months ago the Albanese government threw free to air broadcasters under the bus by locking sport behind the paywalls of the global streamers with their anti-siphoning laws. Now, suddenly are using Free TV as an excuse to cave-in to the gambling lobby. Labor caved to the pressure of the big tech companies like Kayo and Amazon, now they are caving to the gambling lobby.

“This is not about championing Free TV or quality journalism, this is about Labor caving to vested interests instead of standing up for the public interest.”

Today the NSW Labor Government has confirmed their plans for an independent office of animal welfare — except that it will not be independent, not an office and not for animal welfare.

The NSW Upper House has today debated the NSW Greens Independent Office of Animal Welfare Bill introduced by Greens MLC Abigail Boyd.

As part of their platform ahead of the 2023 State Election, NSW Labor committed to introducing a new animal welfare framework in NSW, including establishing an independent office of animal welfare. However, in voting down the bill, the Agriculture Minister made clear Labor’s intentions to introduce their own bill that creates a body that has no operational costs, sees the inherently-conflicted Minister for Agriculture of the day retain primary responsibility for the welfare of animals, and which is required to consult as much with industry as it does with animal welfare stakeholders.

Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW Animal Welfare spokesperson:

“It is truly shameful to hear the Agriculture Minister confirm what we have long suspected — that Labor has no intention of keeping their election commitment to introduce an independent office of animal welfare, and is instead slow-walking towards creating wholly inadequate regulation that will overlook the interests of animals in our state.

“Unless it is truly independent, robustly resourced and responsible for prioritising the interests of animals, Labor cannot possibly call their long-promised reform an independent office of animal welfare.

“Labor is too afraid to do anything that is not in the interest of Big Ag, and as a result we will undoubtedly see animals across our state continue to suffer in the name of profit.

“Establishing an Independent Office of Animal Welfare that aligns with scientific evidence and community expectations has been core Greens business for over a decade.

“Our Greens bill was developed in close consultation with the animal welfare sector and the community, and would have done exactly what is needed to overhaul our outdated animal welfare framework.

“Labor’s failure to support our Greens bill today is yet another broken election promise, and is an insult to all those in the community who have campaigned tirelessly for an independent office of animal welfare for years.”