Women, who comprise slightly more than half the population, who have carried Australia through this pandemic and borne the brunt of the adverse financial & social implications of COVID19 get 0.0385% of the $600B+ spend. There's no way that's not shocking. But wait! There's more!
The fact the Treasurer attempted to dress up this minuscule contribution of $240 million in the 'Women's Economic Security Statement' as significant for women was galling.
The government’s wilful ignorance and/or lack of regard for the economic reality for women in Australia was confirmed in the scramble to find said ‘Women’s Economic Security Statement’. Not with the Budget papers online. That it wasn't even printed on official paper is telling.
It states 5 focus areas:
• repair/rebuild women’s workforce participation & further close the pay gap
• greater choice/flexibility for families to manage work & care
• support women as leaders
• respond to diverse needs of women
• support women to be safe at work and home
To meaningfully pursue any of these absolutely crucial objectives that would reduce gender inequity, the requisite policies and investment would have to be headline-making, front and centre, priorities in the Budget. As they should have been.
The issues identified above are significant and the suggestion that they could be even marginally improved by spending less than one percent of the entire Budget is absolute fantasy at best.
Women’s safety would not be assisted even if every dollar of the $240million was spent on it. It is deeply insulting to suggest that. It’s devastating when you contemplate that demand for DV services, chronically underfunded/ stretched pre-COVID, has surged during this pandemic.
A government remotely concerned with supporting “job creation & entrepreneurialism” among women would invest in affordable, high-quality child care.
That middle-aged & older women – already bearing an unforgivable burden for spending their lives caring for others that's been exacerbated by COVID – have been unanimously declared as losers in this budget is truly shameful. womensagenda.com.au/latest/that-wo…
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