2019-10-15
The Greens are proud to support the more than 60 young women who have taken over parliament today, acting as Senators for the day.
Greens Co-Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Women, Senator Larissa Waters, will bring on a matter of public importance for debate in the Senate today, where MPs from across the political spectrum will read speeches prepared by participants on the issues of concern to young women in Australia, including climate action, domestic violence and body image and autonomy.
Senator Waters said, “Our democracy needs all young women’s voices in parliament and we may well have the next Prime Minister of Australia among the girls who have taken over parliament today.
“We’ve only got 37 per cent women in Federal Parliament overall, with the House of Representatives lagging behind the Senate which only just reached gender parity this year after almost 120 years.
"We’ve got a long way to go in making sure that our parliaments look more like our community and encouraging more women into political leadership roles.
“Sadly, the statistics show only one percent of girls aged 15-19 want politics as a career and once they’re aged 21-25, none of them want to become politicians.
“You can’t be what you can’t see. We need to get more young women into parliament, particularly young women of colour, and make sure our decision-makers start listening to and representing all the community, not just the big end of town like we see now.
“I hope today’s takeover of parliament will inspire women to become future leaders and help shift the blokey culture in the corridors of power.”
Greens Senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi said, “Girls Take Over Parliament is a fantastic initiative which provides young women from a wide range of backgrounds access to the parliamentary process which is so limited to the privileged few.
“I am particularly excited to see so many women of diverse backgrounds taking over Parliament. Federal Parliament doesn’t represent the rich diversity of Australia so we must do more to break down the barriers to political representation and participation.”
As part of the Girls Takeover Parliament event, the young women will present a 10 point charter - Young Women’s Charter for Australian Democracy to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.