Women and the election results

What an amazing outcome on Saturday, November 24 when the Howard government was convincingly trounced after eleven years and Labor, led by Kevin Rudd, took the helm. For many people, the icing on the cake (for some people it was the cake!) was Maxine McKew winning Bennelong, the (former) Prime Minister’s seat. The sweetest victory of all, as someone once said.

Now the new ministry has been announced and there are nine women in the government – four in Cabinet and three in the outer Ministery – plus three women Parliamentary Secretaries. We have, for the first time, a woman as Deputy Prime Minister. Women are doing big political jobs – industrial relations, climate change, health – and not just the welfare/family kinds of portfolios that women tended to be given in the past.

The numbers still fall below those of many other demcoratic governments around the world where 50 per cent of ministers are women. Remember Nicholas Sarkozy, the recently elected President of France, insisted that 50 per cent of his cabinet be women – and he is a conservative. Let’s hope the numbers in Australia can increase in the not too distant future. But for now there is much to celebrate and to appreciate.

The appointment of Penny Wong to Cabinet, as Minister for Climate Change and Water is inspired. Penny is young, she is female and she is Chinese (born in Malaysia, arrived in Australia as a 7 year old). She will be the face of Australia in the interntional fora that devise a post-Kyoto treaty for managing global emissions.

Nothing could more convincingly announce to the world that Hansonism is dead and that a new government, with a new outlook, is in charge. Penny represents women and multicultural Australia as well as the broader constituency of South Australia where she is a Senator; she is the face of Australia today.

And now the rest of the world will see us for how we really are, not some nasty bigots wanted us to become.

Tanya Plibersek is Minister for Housing and the Status of Women whichis very welcome as Tanya has been doing great work in this women’s portfolio. We will wait to see what administrative arrangements are made for this area, and whether responsibility for women will move out of the welfare area where John Howard consigned it after the last election.

The government has already announced that there will be an Office for Work and Family situated within the Prime Minister’s Department. It is great to give such priority to issues so long neglected by the Howard government but I hope that this does not signal that women are to be considered only in their family roles.

Maxine McKew has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister with special responsibility for early childhood education and child care which signals that this long neglected area is finally a political priority. Labor promised to increase the child care rebate to 50 per cent of actual costs, and for the money to be claimable at the time of expenditure, (rather than 18 months later which was the way the former government administered its 30 per cent rebate).

It remains to be seen what else will be done in the child care area, and in women’s policy. I will monitor these and write regular updates.

For now, however, I think celebrations – and congratulations – are in order.