Dinosaur, sexist or realist? Lisa Wilkinson tees off on Shorten

LISA Wilkinson has told Bill Shorten to “take a look in the mirror” over his latest comments on the campaign trail.

TODAY show host Lisa Wilkinson has told Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to “take a look in the mirror” and check himself for “dinosaur” views on women and childcare that sound a lot like former prime minister Tony Abbott’s.

Wilkinson squared off on Mr Shorten for comments he made as he announced a $3 billion childcare package.

“Let’s face it, men in Australia rely on women in Australia to do the childcare and to organise the childcare,” Mr Shorten said.

In a blistering editorial, Wilkinson said the comments entrenched the stereotype of women as “second class citizens”.

“When Bill Shorten describes women as having the second job, that men ‘rely on women to take care of all things when it comes to looking after the kids’, in other words so men can get on with doing all the important stuff, isn’t he simply entrenching a stereotype of women as second class citizens?” Wilkinson said.

“Isn’t parenting about sharing responsibilities? And isn’t it confirming the outdated belief that women should always be in charge of the unpaid work and therefore giving any men who still do, permission to keep thinking that way ... isn’t that like so last century?

“Bill Shorten once described former PM Tony Abbott as a ‘dinosaur’ with his views on women of the Mr Shorten, I would suggest it might be time to take a look in the mirror.”

Asking viewers for their thoughts, Wilkinson asked “is the man who would be PM sexist or a realist?”

Shorten stood his ground during a press conference at a child care centre today, saying he did not regret his original statmenets.

“Men are stepping up in terms of child care. In this centre you will have noticed as you walk around, dads here absolutely pulling their weight,” he said.

“But the fact of the matter is that the burden of child care falls disproportionately on working mums.

“And what Labor wants to do is make sure a government is backing up working parents in Australia and backing up working mums, full stop.”

Announcing the childcare package on Sunday, Shorten repeatedly returned to the subject of women.

He insisted childcare was “far more than just a women’s issue, it’s an economic issue”, but painted the problem as one for the female half of the population.

“Take a look in the mirror: Lisa Wilkinson fires up on Today. Picture: Channel 9

“Affordable quality childcare makes the difference as to whether or not mums are able to go to work, whether or not children get the best start in life,” he said.

“Working mums in this country should not face the choice as to whether or not they pay double childcare fees or drop out of work.”

Mr Shorten, however, didn’t mention men.

“When I think of a family sitting on the couch, I understand how frustrated working mums are with the logistics of childcare,” he said.

“I understand how difficult it is for a working woman with the kids trying to work out how on earth does she go to work if 80 per cent of what she’s earning gets eaten up in childcare fees?

“Let’s face it, men in Australia rely on women in Australia to do the childcare and to organise the childcare.

“So what I would say to the family sitting on the couch is this: ‘I’ll make sure that it’s easier for both of you to go to work if that’s what you choose to do’.”

Mr Shorten said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was keen to help big businesses but “when it comes to standing up for the working women of Australia, the working families of Australia, he gets out the abacus and says it can’t be done”.

Advocacy group Early Childhood Australia welcomed Labor’s support for childcare, but insisted it was about more than getting women back to work.

“It is about workforce participation and women but there’s a bigger picture,” said national president Ros Cornish. “If we invest in quality early learning then the benefits to society long term are greater ... These are our future citizens and politicians.”

Mr Shorten attacked the government’s “activity test” for childcare support because “what it is effectively saying is that mums who are in casual jobs, part-time jobs, not very high paying jobs, that they are potentially going to fall between the cracks of the Liberal childcare policy. And these are exactly the working women we want to encourage and support to go to work”.

But ECA said this was an investment for all of Australia. “We’ve seen men taking a more active role in early education,” said Ms Cornish. “Traditionally, it’s been seen as women’s work but that’s starting to change, there’s much more equity.”