New state and federal ministers for women

State

After the March 2019 NSW election, the Premier announced that the NSW Minister for Women would be Bronwyn Taylor MLC (NSW Nationals). She is also the Minister for Mental Health and Regional Youth.

To date, there has not been a media release from her regarding her appointment as Minister for Women.

The new Minister for Women was quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald in an article by Esther Han (2 April, 2019.) that said: As Women’s Minister, she said her aim was to ensure all women have the opportunities — whether it’s increasing their education or accessing childcare —to “make the choices they want to make”. It was also reported in the same article that the minister had reservations about quotas for women in Parliament.

Only five ministers in Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s new 24-member cabinet are women and three out of the seven Nationals ministers, including Ms Taylor are women.

Federal

In the lead-up to the federal election, Federation examined the policies from all parties regarding public education and also looked at what they had to offer for women.

After the federal election in May, the new Minister for Women was announced as Senator Marise Payne, who also remains the Minister for Foreign Affairs. On 26 May, in a media release she said: “In my new capacity as Minister for Women, I look forward to building on the excellent work of my friend and colleague Kelly O’Dwyer. Securing economic opportunities for women, focussing on their safety and achieving genuine gender equality are just some of the areas on which I will direct my attention.

“The intersection of my two portfolios also presents extraordinary opportunities to make gains for women and girls both at home and abroad. I look forward to embracing these over the coming term.”

There are still not enough women in ministerial or Cabinet positions with only seven at the moment, which according to ABC fact check is a 0.4 per cent increase on the Rudd government’s 30 per cent.

See these articles for an interesting read: