International Equal Pay Day

Abigail passed a motion that acknowledges International Equal Pay Day.

International Equal Pay Day calls for governments to take action to eliminate the gender pay gap and systems that facilitate that inequality. With the passing of this motion, the Upper House of NSW Parliament has formally called on the Government to take stronger action to address the systemic drivers of the gender pay gap.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (10:05): I move:

(1)That this House notes that:

(a)Sunday 18 September is International Equal Pay Day, a day that calls for governments to take action to eliminate the gender pay gap and the systemic inequalities it is rooted in, and recognises the historic and systemic undervaluing of women's workplace status and contributions;

(b)according to the United Nations:

(i)the day was established in 2019 because despite decades of activism, significant legislation and policy changes on equal pay, and campaigns to fight gender inequality, globally there is concerning and slow progress on women's economic empowerment, eliminating pay inequality, and fighting the undervaluing of women in traditionally female-dominated sectors;

(ii)women's unequal status and pay in the workplace feeds inequality, and there is an urgent need to end harmful gender stereotypes, remove institutional barriers, and recognise, redistribute, and value the unpaid care work that is disproportionately done by women;

(iii)women with children, women of colour, women refugees and migrants, women with disabilities and LGBTIQ+ people are disproportionately impacted by pay inequality and the barriers and challenges that come with it; and

(iv)all levels of society, especially governments, need to take action well beyond legislative change to advocate for true and genuine gender equality in the workplace and in society; and

(c)according to the report by KPMG, the Diversity Council Australia [DCA] and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency [WGEA] entitledShe's Price(d)less and published in July 2022:

(i)the gender pay gap in Australia remains prevalent regardless of labour force size, gender composition or average rate of pay;

(ii)the pay gap between men and women is equivalent to $966 million per week, or $51.8 billion per annum;

(iii)systemic drivers of the gap remain the largest contributors to the gender pay gap, with gender discrimination against women being the primary driver followed by the combined impact of family, unpaid care and time out of the workforce participation; and

(iv)research conducted does allow for an examination of the gender pay gap through an intersectional lens, so there is a clear need for policymakers to broaden data collection to recognise non-binary genders as well as other intersections such as disability status, race, linguistic diversity and more.

(2)That this House calls on the New South Wales Government to take stronger action to address the systemic drivers of the gender pay gap through policy, advocacy and education.

Motion agreed to.

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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International Equal Pay Day

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

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