Thank you, Minister Gasper – and thank you to the Government of the Republic of Marshall Islands for hosting the meeting in Marshall Islands.
I join you today from the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal people and I pay my respects to their continuing culture and connections to land, water and community.
I acknowledge all of those joining today in person and around our Blue Pacific region.
I am Australia’s Minister for Women, Finance and the Public Service.
I commend regional organisations – the Pacific Community, SPC, and the Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific governments and civil society for the sustained focus on women.
It has been 45 years since the first Pacific Triennial Conference for Pacific women and 30 years since the development of the Pacific Platform for Action.
I welcome this important opportunity to take stock, reflect on our progress, and commit to the work still ahead of us.
In reflecting on one key national achievement in progressing the Outcomes of the 14th Triennial I want to highlight Australia’s new gender equality strategy Working for Women, and my Government’s commitment to putting gender equality at the heart of everything we do, including our budget processes.
Core to our approach are two concepts:
- First, that the challenges facing women - be that gender based violence, economic inequality, unequal burden of care, poorer health outcomes or lack of representation - are all interconnected. And we need to work across all these challenges
- Second, that we need to make sure that our systems – our budget, tax and social protection systems, our political and justice systems, and our health and education systems – actually work for women.
In the context of this new approach to gender equality, I want to focus on our shared priority, ending gender-based violence.
Like every country across the globe, violence against women and children is a national crisis in Australia.
In the face of devastating rates of violence against women, we have significantly sharpened our national focus, co-operation and investment in addressing and preventing violence.
We know this is a complex problem, and there are no easy solutions. But that cannot be an excuse for failing to act.
Since the 14th Triennial, the Australian Government and all states and territories have committed to a new National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.
Though this, we all are committed to ending family, domestic and sexual violence in one generation.
Our Prime Minister recently convened a National Cabinet, with leaders from every Australian state and territory, to focus on gender-based violence, and commit to action across jurisdictions, especially in terms of prevention and dealing with perpetrators.
We are working through a range of policy areas to prevent violence and support victim-survivors.
This includes investment in front line services and prevention, as well as women’s economic security, housing, public campaigns, justice responses, family law reform, and workplace reform.
These are not unique challenges and Australia by no means has the answers, but the political and community will to act is probably the highest it has ever been and we are doing everything we can to seize that momentum.
When I reflect on what has worked well in progressing gender equality, including seizing that moment to really focus on addressing violence, I come back to that central commitment to put gender equality at the heart of what we do, and to break down those silos in how we approach different challenges.
I am the Finance Minister, the Minister for Women and the Minister for the Public Service – this was a deliberate decision by the Prime Minister to connect these portfolios, and it has made a difference.
From this position, I have introduced gender responsive budgeting and work with my colleagues to run that focus on gender equality across every single budget decision.
I also recognise that grass roots demand for change has been critical to driving momentum in Australia.
These voices keep Government accountable and focused, and help make sure we deliver policies that actually make a difference in women’s lives.
If we think about ‘quick wins’ to accelerate gender equality in the next 3 years, I want reinforce that gender equality is a fundamental human right and a necessary foundation for achieving peace, prosperity and sustainability in our region and globally.
I also recognise that progress towards gender equality is not inevitable, or permanent.
We need to work together to protect the gains we have made and keep working towards true equality – though progress on rights is rarely the result of a quick win.
But we win when we work together – so for me that is our win – that we continue to work together, step by step, in partnership… listening to one another, and learning from one another about what is working and what’s not.
This forum, and the sisterhood across the Pacific and through the Pacific Community and Pacific Islands Forum – is our win.
Gender equality is critical for delivering on the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific and I look forward to hearing and learning from you all about how you are progressing gender equality.