Among male-dominated ranks of Parliamentarians, it’s important for woman politicians to call out sexism.
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But hearing Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis claim that gender was behind last week’s furore over her comments that penalty rate cuts were “a gift” to young workers (because they might allow more businesses to open on Sundays) sounds hollow.
If Ms Sudmalis was really concerned about “trying to encourage women to stand up for themselves, to be strong and to jump in”, perhaps she’d rethink her support for cutting Sunday penalty rates by 25 to 50 per cent.
Women are more likely then men to work in the professions which will bear the brunt of the pay cut (they make up 54 per cent of retail and hospitality workers), and they’re also far more likely to work casually or part time.
For many, working on the weekend is necessary – they spend time away from their kids at a time their partners or families are available for childcare, knowing they’ll get paid a little bit extra for giving up this universally valued weekend time.
Social policy commentators, women’s experts and academics from around the country last week told Fairfax Media that the penalty cuts would hit women hardest.
Ms Sudmalis is right that women in parliament have a harder time than men; that’s clear because there are still far fewer women than men in ministerial positions. But if she’s going to label policies that will widen the already shocking gender pay gap in this country and make it harder for women earn a decent living as “a gift”, she deserves to be called out.
Perhaps instead of mourning the “unfairness of it all” about the way she was treated, she should think about how unfair her party’s stance on penalty rates will be for thousands of women.