Thank you very much Simone.
Can I, in her absence, thank Aunty Violet for her welcome and wisdom – she’s had to go do school drop off. I told her it was much more important than listening to me.
I acknowledge also the traditional owners, the Ngunnawal people, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
And I offer that acknowledgement as a mark of respect for our history and an expression of hope for our future.
First Nations people were this continent’s first diplomats, first traders and they are connected to our region – it is a connection that makes our nation stronger.
Thanks UN Women for all you do. Thank you Christine, thank you Georgina for all you do here and in the world.
To my Ministerial colleagues, particularly the Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, to the Leader of the Opposition, Members and Senators, friends – it’s really great to be here.
The Prime Minister just talked about progress. He talked about the work we have done – the community has done, the Government has done – to make Australia a more equal country, as part of the “march forward” on gender equality.
But I regret to report that the situation around the world is not quite as encouraging.
More than 380 million women and girls worldwide are living in extreme poverty.
We talk a lot about economic empowerment, 2.4 billion women of working age do not have equal economic opportunities.
In countries like Iran and Afghanistan, repressive authorities deplete their nations’ souls but also their prospects, by denying the rights of women and girls.
Across the world, women are facing more sexual and gender-based violence, and less access to sexual and reproductive health services.
An estimated one in three women experiencing physical or sexual violence in their lifetime globally.
Closer to home, that figure is even more stark – two in three women experience physical or sexual violence in the Pacific.
And as we have seen a surge in conflict and humanitarian crises internationally, we see devastating effects on women and girls.
Last year alone, cases of conflict-related sexual violence surged by 50 percent – almost a third of these cases involved girls.
These terrible facts and they underline the costs of gender inequality.
We know that gender equality is as a stronger predictor of peace than a nation’s wealth or political system.
We know that peace agreements are more likely to last when women can participate in them.
And we know that gender equality reduces poverty, strengthens social cohesion, unlocks economic productivity and enhances prosperity for current and future generations.
If women participated in the economy on equal terms with men, it could add up to US$28 trillion to the international economy.
So the whole world pays the price for the lack of gender equality.
We pay that price in a world that is more dangerous, more divided, less stable, and poorer.
And so it is in this context that today I release Australia’s International Gender Equality Strategy.
The Strategy outlines how Australia is driving gender equality with action to end sexual and gender-based violence.
Action to protect and advance women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Action to increase the security of women and girls and to ensure our humanitarian responses integrate the needs of women and girls.
Action to improve women’s economic security, through social protection, financial inclusion, reform to workplace gender equality…
And action to support women’s leadership, to drive change that benefits everyone.
Now I’m sure some will try to delegitimise this strategy as being about a “special interest”.
So I want to emphasise one thing the Prime Minister said – and something I believe passionately.
Gender equality is not a “special interest”. Gender equality is a matter of national interest.
Australia is always better off if our region and world is more prosperous and more secure.
So as we advance our interests in the world, policies that contribute to the women and girls’ empowerment are not simply an appendix to the rest of our foreign policy.
This Strategy reaffirms the centrality of Australia’s commitment to gender equality.
Because gender equality benefits everyone.
And when women march forward, the whole world makes progress.
