It's time to close the gender pay gap

Today in Parliament Abigail gave notice of a motion calling on the NSW Government to close the gender pay gap across all sectors in NSW.

Abigail said:

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move:

(1) That this House notes that:

Friday 25 August 2023 was Equal Pay Day, which is 56 days from the end of the financial year and marks the number of additional days women in Australia must work on average to earn the same as men did in the last financial year,
this figure is calculated using ABS average weekly earnings data, and does not come close to addressing the full spectrum of the gender pay gap including the way it impacts part-time, causal and gig economy employees, First Nations people and people with disability, as well as figures like bonuses, superannuation and overtime which men are more likely to earn,
the calculated Equal Pay Day for NSW in 2023 is 16 August, which represents the 47 days from the end of the financial year that women in the state must work on average to earn the same as men in the state,
the gender pay gap in Australia is currently 13.3 percent, and the gap for precarious workers is 22 percent,
according to calculations from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WEGA), the impact of the gender pay gap on the Australian economy is $51.8 billion every year,
the call to action by WEGA in light of this year’s Equal Pay Day is to employers, calling on them to take direct action to reduce their gender pay gap and eliminate the barriers of bias, discrimination and entrenched gender stereotypes that devalue women and their work and perpetuate the gender pay gap,
closing the gender pay gap will not be achieved by leaving it up to employers, individuals and industry, which is why governments and policy makers must take charge and drive change from the top down, and
according to the NSW Public Service Commission, the gender pay gap in the NSW public sector is increasing exponentially and is currently the highest it has been in 10 years.

(2) That this House calls on the NSW Government to take direct action to close the gender pay gap at a state level across all sectors, by conducting targeted pay gap analysis, supporting gender-neutral parental leave policies, enforcing transparency and accountability mechanisms across all sectors and paving the way for cultural and systemic change bounded in equal participation, opportunity and pay for women in the workforce.

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

The NSW Government owns and controls, on behalf of the people of this state, the rights to the minerals and materials that naturally occur in NSW land.

Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

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It's time to close the gender pay gap

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

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