[ Formal acknowledgements]
It is good to be back here at a Women in Banking and Finance event.
It is genuinely inspiring to be here and see so many engaged and intelligent women and men people keen to make a difference.
When I last spoke to you, I focused on the economic empowerment of women and the obstacles before us. I spoke of the glass ceilings and referenced the unspoken rules.
And I spoke also of initiatives that this Government has commenced to try and support more women into our boardrooms.
This is something that I have sought to champion in government.
Because I do believe that diversity brings with it a strength and creativity.
I believe it is in all of our interests to fully utilise the talents of over 50 per cent of the population.
But while we are making progress on these fronts, as everybody here knows there is always more to do.
And today, I would like to build on my previous remarks and situate them against a broader economic context.
Because in this, the Asian Century, we do as a nation have a number of economic choices before us.
There are great challenges, but also immense opportunity.
And the choices we make today whether in government, in business, in the community will shape our future.
So, I want to step through why the opportunities of the Asian Century can only be realised if we, together, build a future-ready Australia.
And why, to be future-ready, we need to maximise the potential of all our people.
As you know, Australia is at the centre of a rebalancing of economic weight from West to East.
This process is underway, but it will take decades to play out; shaping the global economic and geopolitical outlook.
These global shifts are being reflected in our economy, as the early years of the Asian Century reshape both the international and the Australian economy, with lasting and profound results.
This is a shift that is the key public policy transformation of this generation.
While precise projections of Asias growth trajectory are uncertain, it is predicted that, by 2025, Asia will likely account for almost half of the worlds economic output.
In fact, by 2025, Asian economies are likely to have more than doubled in size, compared with only 40 per cent growth for the US.
By the end of the current decade, its forecast that an additional 1.2 billion Asian consumers will join the ranks of the middle class.
This will make Asia a dominant global consumer and this offers expanded opportunities to those nations whose businesses can satisfy these demands.
This is a time in Australias history when we find ourselves in the right part of the world at the right time; when the changes underway bring more opportunity to our region.
In the 1950s, around 15 per cent of the worlds economic output was located within 10,000km of Australia.
Today, that share has more than doubled to over one third.
And, by mid-Century, almost two thirds of total global GDP is likely to be within 10,000km of Australia.
These are figures which underline the opportunities before us.
Australia is and will continue to benefit from the mining boom, as Asias demand for raw materials of modernisation continues.
But, if we look ahead, our relationship with the countries of our region will go through infinite permutations over the time ahead of us.
As a medium and open economy, we are constantly in transition, and we always need to be adaptable to take advantages of the opportunities that are present.
So, the Governments determination to best maximise the opportunities ahead is why we commissioned a White Paper to guide how we prepare for the Asian Century.
Its a road map for government decision-making one that is shaped by a very clear objective: a goal of ensuring Australia is best placed to succeed in the years ahead.
Because this is the perspective we will all need today and beyond to enable the nation to make the right choices for the future.
And, of course, against this long-lived structural shift, are more immediate challenges.
Yesterday, we saw the World Banks Global Economic Prospects Report released which showed that financial conditions in high-income countries have improved and risks are down, but growth remains subdued.
Australias economy is at the cross roads of the global economy.
Broadly speaking, there are two major transitions taking place in the Australian economy.
One is driven by the mining sector, as we move from the largest investment boom in the nations history to the production and export phases.
These next phases will still make important contributions to growth, as past and current mining investment yield increasing volume of production and exports.
The second transition is across the broader economy, as we move as a nation increasingly to non-resources drivers of growth.
The National Accounts released last week showed strong net export growth its biggest contribution to growth in four years.
This is a very positive sign that our economy is transitioning into its next phase as production picks up.
New business investment is still around 50-year highs as a share of GDP, and, while new private business investment fell 4.3 per cent in the quarter, its important to remember that the investment pipeline includes $268 billion at a committed stage.
This is the backdrop of change that we are living through.
And, as the Reserve Bank keeps telling us, these transitions may not be seamless, and so key to managing them is to have the right policy settings.
Certainly in preparing this years Budget, getting the settings right for the changes the economy is going through was front and centre for the Government, and certainly occupied much of my mind.
Because, while the Australian economy and the Federal Budget start from a position of relative strength, there is no doubt we face some challenges.
This includes the continued high dollar which, while it has come off its record highs recently, it has certainly made the transition harder for many sectors.
And all sectors both traded and non-traded are being impacted.
We have seen a period of soft profits for the private sector and consequently lower tax revenues to government.
It was pleasing to see the measure of private sector profit in the most recent National Accounts showing 4 per cent growth in the March quarter.
This is a welcome turnaround after five consecutive quarterly falls.
Outside of the mining sector, profits grew by just less than 1 per cent in 2012 well below the 14 per cent average in the ten years before the global financial crisis.
So, what does this squeeze on company profits mean? Well, its meant lower tax collections by governments.
And weve seen the second biggest write-down in tax receipts since the Great Depression.
In 2012-13, tax receipts are expected to be just 21.5 per cent of GDP well less than the 24 per cent average in the five years prior to the global financial crisis.
This weakness in revenues lingering long after the global financial crisis will continue to weigh business and government decision-making.
Even with these transitions occurring, and even with some of the challenges Ive described, we as a nation continue to outperform the developed world GDP grew a solid 0.6 per cent in the March quarter, 2.5 per cent through the year.
Our comparative performance sees Australia stand tall.
Our economy is 14 per cent larger than it was when the Government was first elected.
Over the same period, the United Kingdoms economy has shrunk more than 2 per cent, while the United States has grown just 3.2 per cent in the same period.
Weve seen 960,000 jobs created together since 2007, and more Australians in work than ever before and yesterdays labour force figures confirmed continuing strength, despite global volatility, in the labour market.
We have Triple-A ratings from all three major global credit rating agencies one of only eight countries to do so with a stable outlook, and all of these have been reaffirmed since the Budget was handed down.
We have contained inflation, record low interest rates and strong public finances.
But Australias future is not guaranteed, nor is our prosperity assured.
I believe the nation makes its own future through our willingness to reform and adapt.
And this is what drives this Labor Governments policy agenda and our plans for the future.
In 2013, Australia has the capacity to shape our own future; to determine our destiny and secure our success.
And, while some might yearn for the past and seek to frame the debate in terms of what seemed a simpler time, it is a fact that looking backwards only trips up a nation.
We know we need to reform to continue to succeed.
And with the right choices, future opportunities are there for the taking.
Our choice is to invest in our people and to get the settings right for opportunity.
While the mining sector has driven the Australian economy for much of the last decade, we know that we need to ensure the right settings are in place so that other sectors of the economy contribute to the nations growth trajectory.
Central to successfully managing this transition is investing in our people in our human capital and providing opportunity for all through inclusion and engagement.
Australias success will ultimately come down to our innovation and our entrepreneurship.
It will ultimately come down to our people.
Achieving these objectives will shape our prospects in the coming decades and determine our capacity to compete in our region.
We know, as a political party, that investment in education and skills are how we transform our economy and how we best respond to the global environment.
We start from the position that with the right educational opportunities, every Australian can achieve their potential.
And that is why the Government is investing $9.8 billion in additional funding over six years.
To see better schools, better classrooms and better resources around the country.
This is a transformative reform that will reset the trajectory for schooling in this nation.
Our schools are good, but they need to be much better.
As the Gonski Review showed, over the last decade, the performance of Australian students has declined at all levels of achievement, notably at the top end.
One in 12 Australian kids are not meeting the minimum standards in reading, writing and mathematics, and young Australians who are from less well-off backgrounds can be up to three years behind their classmates.
To compete in the Asian Century, all of our children will need to do better in reading and writing, maths and science.
The average 15 year old maths student in Australia is two years behind a 15 year old in Shanghai.
But we know that to win the economic race in the Asian Century you have to win the education race as well.
We will need to improve educational outcomes so that our children can secure the jobs of the future the high paid, highly skilled jobs that will see this nation flourish well beyond the mining boom.
That is why we are making this historic investment in the education system in this nation.
That is why we are giving school Principals and teachers more say in how the additional funding is to be spent to see the best solutions for each child, from those with the best understanding of students needs.
Going around this room, at every table, probably every person, you could each tell a story about the transformative power the opportunity of education has given to you or to someone in your family that has transformed your trajectory or your childrens.
The story I tell is of my grandmother who was barely literate.
She didnt finish primary school she couldnt, she had to go out and go to work.
And that her granddaughter is the Minister for Finance in Australia really comes down to proposition, and that is my father.
He was the first person in his family to finish school; to go to University, and he got a Columbo Plan scholarship here, to Australia.
For our family, that is the transformative power of education.
Thats the personal perspective, as well as an economic perspective, that we need to bring to a discussion of education policy.
Schooling is an area of stark contrast in our national political debate today.
I dont believe we can afford a system where the postcode of a childs parents so dictates his or her educational outcome.
And I dont believe we can afford to have a second rate school system if we want to have a first rate economy.
The Governments investment in schools builds on our investments in other areas which bolster human capital.
From universal early childhood access, to our skills and apprenticeship investments, and the uncapping higher education places, this investment in our schools in another key reform to build Australias human capital.
It is the central platform on which all other Asian Century policies rest.
We know that education creates opportunity, but we also know that it is only in a society that genuinely fosters opportunity in all areas that the full benefits of these investments can be realised.
For the Labor Party for me this is a principled position, embedded in a commitment to equality and inclusion.
And I want to outline how this translates into policy that supports women to succeed and how this will contribute to readying our economy for the rise of Asia.
In our economy and in the community at large, we know that there are hurdles that remain to womens participation.
It is in the workplace where these can be most prevalent where the structures and cultures tilt the playing field against too many women.
Lets look at the facts:
Of the ASX top 200 companies, 15.7 per cent of board positions are women. This is a substantial increase from a few years ago, but its still 15.7 per cent.
48 boards thats nearly one in four are without a female sitting around the decision-making table.
And more broadly, the gap between male and female earnings remains at around 17 per cent.
That is, for every dollar a man earns, a woman is only earning 83 cents.
To be clear, this is a comparison of like against like the same number of hours worked.
A point I want to stress because there is a real misconception out there (which Ive experienced through social media) that this is because women work less than men.
I go could go through a whole range of statistics, whether its women in Parliament or more broadly about womens participation in leadership.
The facts are the facts.
And there are only two rational conclusions that can be drawn from the numbers: either women are not as able or as smart as men, or that there is something holding women back.
Now, Im sure that everyone here would agree that the former is clearly incorrect.
We certainly are right to bristle at the idea that as women our opportunities are less for no other reason than our gender.
And, through our individual experiences we know that this can be frustrating and belittling.
But, while the individual hurdles that many of this room would have faced can be diminishing, the aggregate picture shows that holding women back in fact holds the country back.
As I said before, Im a progressive politician and I have position of principle around this.
But there is also an economic imperative.
For example, the Grattan Institute last year released a report that indicated that removing disincentives for women to enter the paid workforce would increase the size of the economy by about $25billion a year.
This is foregone wealth in a nation that can do better.
From an understanding of the problem in an economic context, we should be able to implement policies to solve these shortcomings.
Put simply, a society that does not fully utilise half the population, fully utilise the skills and abilities of half the population, will curb economic growth and lower our prospects for the future.
And to be able to compete in what will be a competitive century, we will need to have our best at the forefront of innovation and business.
Whether in banking and finance, in mining and manufacturing, in politics and in community groups, to allow barriers to female participation to continue is accepting that we will not together achieve our potential as a nation.
A stark point, but an important one.
If we fail to maximise the potential and the capabilities of all Australians, our aspirations as a nation will remain unfulfilled.
I want to single out one program that provides support to women to participate and contribute to our economy.
And these are the Governments investments in child care, which really demonstrate how society has changed in the last decade.
Child care is critical to helping unlock the economic potential of our entire population.
As you probably know, the Governments increased the Child Care Rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of out of pocket expenses to assist women in staying connected to employment.
What has this seen? Its seen spending on child care increase by 60 per cent since we came to Government, as more and more families take up child care than ever before.
1.3 million Australian children are expected to utilise child care this financial year a 20 per cent increase on the number using child care just 5 or so years ago.
As a Labor Government, we have also significantly increased spending on the Jobs Education and Training program, known as JET, to support disadvantaged women back to work.
It is a challenge to return to work for any parent, but it is hardest for those in lower paid jobs, particularly those that lack the cultural acceptance, let alone supports or assist women to return to work.
Supporting these women to return back to work is a proud achievement of this Government and one that will contribute to greater equality.
These policies mean that more women are able to work and to continue their careers after having children.
And with a business culture that is gradually recognising that work should respond to family rather than only family responding to work progress is being made.
And of course investments in child care have been added to in more recent times by the introduction for the first time in the nations history, after many years of advocacy, of a paid parental leave scheme.
But there is still much more to do.
And this onus falls as much on the leaders and future leaders in the business community, as it does on governments.
I want to close with a bit of a discussion about equality and why I have always argued for the principle of equality and for the widening of opportunity.
In a previous speech, I spoke about a speech my sister gave at my fathers birthday he turned 70 a couple of years ago.
My sister, who is 20 years younger than me, gave a speech in which she said to my father that one of the things she loves about him is that his aspiration for his daughters were never less than those he had for his sons.
And to me that encapsulated really what I think is the right philosophical position and the right public policy position.
I do believe that whether its the Parliament, the courts or business that the community and customers are best served when the diversity of that community or that customer base is reflected in that institution.
I do believe that diversity is an asset.
I do believe that with difference comes creativity
And I do believe that our aspirations for our daughters should never be less than those we hold for our sons
And I do believe more broadly that our aspirations for all of our children should be greater than the hopes we hold for ourselves.
A future-ready Australia in my mind is one that holds those presets near and dear, and ensures that they apply to the policy choices we make and to the choices we make as leaders today and future leaders tomorrow.
And we can never rest.
My experience of change as a politician, and I suspect if you ask any of the women who hold senior positions in this room, is that if you are silent the status quo almost inevitably comes over the top of you.
If we are serious about equality we should never assume that it will simply happen because it will happen.
If we are serious about diversity we should never assume that it will happen just through us sitting on our hands.
Change institutional change, social change, political change, cultural change only ever happens because people advocate for it, people argue for it, and people convince others of it.
And it is wonderful to be in a room with people who are, in their very many different ways, prepared to do that.
Thank you very much.
ENDS