Opinion: Federal Government’s ‘Women’s Budget’ won’t be enough to win over lost voters

With its special budget for women the Morrison Government has again showcased how out of touch they are, writes Jessica Marszalek.

It was obvious last year the Morrison Government realised it had a women’s problem when it produced Australia’s inaugural “Women’s Budget”.

This year it is bleedingly obvious as it continued the farce of releasing a specialised budget for half the population as though we were a different breed.

Certainly, Scott Morrison is right to be worried that women, and particularly young women, will have baseball bats out for him this election following missteps over the past two years.

It began with white-hot anger unleashed with the treatment of a sexual assault allegation at Parliament House.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison impressed few women with his handling of it, including when his response only seemed to measure up to community sentiment after his wife asked him to imagine it were his own daughter.

But it snowballed with a bungled consent campaign involving milkshakes, allegations involving Christian Porter and Alan Tudge, and Jenny Morrison’s cringy interview where she lamented the lack of politeness shown by Australian of the Year Grace Tame during that awkward photo.

And so, women have another special document to canvas their vote this election year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny with Grace Tame, who appeared to be uncomfortable with the meeting. Picture: Gary Ramage.

“The 2022-23 Budget demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment and action to achieving greater gender equality in Australia, and puts women at the centre of the economic and social recovery,” a forward by Morrison and Women’s Minister Senator Marise Payne boasts in the 72-page Women’s Budget Statement.

We’re also mentioned 9 times in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s Budget address.

For context, men are not mentioned at all.

All health funding Frydenberg mentions are for “women’s health” - for breast cancer drugs, stillbirth and miscarriage support, endometriosis clinics and breast and cervical cancer screening.

Of course, there have been genuine attempts to address problems that exist in women’s lives.

And so there should, with one in four women subject to domestic violence and a woman killed by her current or former partner every 11 days.

Domestic violence action in the budget deserves the funding it’s getting and changes to paid parental leave do represent a genuine attempt to change attitudes around how caring for children is the role of both parents, not just mothers.

But is it enough? And why are these women’s issues, rather than societal issues?

Isn’t it fairly accepted in 2022 that many men want to end domestic violence, live in a dual-income household and see their kids as well?

Scraping the Budget for stereotypical women’s issues likely won’t scrape back the female vote the way the government hopes.

Morrison needs to show women that he gets why he’s annoyed them and, with an election fast approaching, he hasn’t got long to do it.