‘Untapped resource’: PM says equality for women will be centre of budget

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says equality for women will be “at the centre” of the October 25 budget, announcing an eight-week increase to the Commonwealth’s parental leave scheme to deliver parents a total of six months’ paid leave.

Albanese called on more companies to increase their paid parental leave schemes, saying the Commonwealth’s scheme was a “baseline” and the private sector should still do more.

Speaking to the Labor Party’s New South Wales state conference at the Sydney Town Hall where he received a rockstar’s welcome while flanked by his partner Jodie Haydon and son Nathan, Albanese vowed that Labor’s first budget would “signal that the era of policy chaos and shameless, reckless pork barrelling is over”.

“Equality for women is at the heart of our vision for a fair go at work,” Albanese said in his speech to Labor members.

“And equality for women will be at the centre of our first budget in a fortnight’s time.

“The full and equal and respectful participation of women in our economy is our nation’s greatest untapped resource.”

Albanese announced that young families would gain an increase in paid parental leave from 18 to 26 weeks in a federal pledge to make it easier for women to juggle work and home life while also helping new fathers at a cost that may exceed $600 million a year.

The extension to the Commonwealth scheme by 2026, originally reported by this masthead on Friday morning, will give a total of six months’ paid leave shared between the two parents.

The budget will include $500 million over the four years towards the extension of the scheme, but it could exceed $600 million a year once the change is in place by 2026.

Albanese said the plan would mean “more families take up this leave, share in that precious time, and share the caring responsibilities more equally”. He said the significant change was also an “economic measure” because it would encourage more women to stay in the workforce.

“This plan will support dads who want to take time off work to be more involved in those early months,” he said. “It’s a modern policy, for modern families.”

In a pitch to businesses to do more, Albanese said his government viewed the Commonwealth’s scheme as the “foundation, the baseline, a national minimum standard”.

“And we are encouraged that there are already enlightened employers across Australia competing to offer working parents the best possible deal,” he said. “And we want to see more of it.”

Along with gender equity and more support for families, Albanese chose to make his commitment to establish an Indigenous Voice to parliament a significant part of his speech.

Albanese noted that some commentators had said it was a “risk” to press ahead with holding a referendum within the next financial year.

“No team ever won a grand final by not running on the field and forfeiting,” Albanese said.

“The Uluru Statement was five years in the making. It has been five years since that generous statement was made. If not now – when?”

He said the Voice to parliament would “give all Australians a greater sense of who we are, of the privilege we have to share this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth”.

“It will send a message to the world, that we are a mature, confident nation on the road to reconciliation,” he said.

The prime minister painted a bleak picture on the global economic and security front, saying Australia was facing military conflict in Europe, “economic turmoil” in Britain, the risk of recession in the United States and ongoing security challenges in the near region.

“Inflation is biting economies around the world – and central banks everywhere are responding with the sharpest, most synchronised episode of monetary policy tightening in recent decades,” he said.

Albanese also paid tribute to his late mother, who he said would attend state Labor conferences as a supporter of the party. “She’d sit just up there,” Albanese said, pointing.

“She was never a delegate. She never sought – or held – a position in our party. She never asked for anything.

“My mum’s beaming smile lit up this stage when she was made a life member back in the year 2000. And I like to think her light is shining down on me this morning.”

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