Earlier in the week I expressed my reservations about Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave policy. My reluctance has nothing to do with the policy itself, rather, it stems from the economic consequ…
Education: the best power tool there is?
On Friday night I attended a dinner for some Australian alumni of The University of Oxford, a group of which, I should note, that I’m not a member. The former prime minister Bob Hawke gave the w…
The gender pay gap: What you and your employer can do to close it
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm the pay gap between men and women not only persists but is growing. Between May 2012 and May 2013 the average earnings of a full-tim…
Coalition’s paid parental leave: Good for high earners but what about the economy?
Yesterday Tony Abbott confirmed that if the Coalition is elected, women who give birth after July 2015 will be paid their existing salary, up to a cap of $150,000, for 26 weeks. Under the current paid…
Cost is the Coalition’s priority around child care
Cost is the biggest obstacle the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood and Childcare Sussan Ley wants to overcome. “I have been attending roundtable discussions around the country and throughout A…
Tony Abbott and his supporters set a dangerous precedent for women
A lot has now been said about the opposition leader Tony Abbott referring to Liberal candidate Fiona Scott’s ‘sex appeal‘. Unfortunately very little of it dissuades the notion that s…
Jodie Fox: The smart way to take a big risk
At 27 Jodie Fox had to make a choice. Would she continue in her position at a leading advertising agency or commit setting up a business selling custom-made shoes that she had been dabbling in? She ha…
How will the government address affordability and accessibility of childcare?
When speaking to the Minister for Early Childhood and Childcare, Kate Ellis, about the affordability and accessibility of childcare she is struck by something in my voice. “I speak to lots of pe…
Tony Abbott: how does sex appeal affect a candidate’s ability to do their job?
A day after attracting global headlines for switching ‘repository’ for ‘suppository’ Opposition leader Tony Abbott has had another slip of the tongue. Unlike the first, however…
Why our work ethic is not determined by caring responsibilities
At first I was reluctant to express my view on a segment that appeared on Channel Nine’s Mornings program last Friday about working mums. I watched it online after seeing it pop up in my Twitter…
