- Parental leave will strengthen families, says G-G
- By Tony Wright
- The Age
- 08/10/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
GOVERNOR-General Quentin Bryce has thrown her personal support behind paid parental leave, describing it as "absolutely vital for strengthening families".
In an interview with The Age, Ms Bryce recalled her own health failing so badly when she had three children under the age of five that she contracted pneumonia and felt she would not be able to get out of bed to return to work, though she came from a generation that was taught "you just get on with it".
"All women need support when they're having their babies and their little families are in formation," she said.
"I have to say I have a lot of concern about the numbers of women — and men, now — who are not getting the support that they need. There are not the families and the communities around that there used to be."
Ms Bryce also said that she wanted her current journey down the Murray-Darling basin to define her as a governor-general for the bush. She chose the Murray-Darling for her first official trip because it highlighted all the issues she wanted to tackle during her term.
She nominated the well-being of rural and remote Australia as her single greatest concern.
Her trip down the river system was a first step to understanding the great challenges facing both white and indigenous communities such as water, climate change, farming, irrigation and physical dislocation from major cities.
Ms Bryce said the heart of her role was public service to all Australians, but she felt she had to set priorities. "For me, I want to give my utmost to Australians who live in remote and rural areas," she said.
"I think they include people who have enormous challenges ahead and a very significant contribution to make to the future of our country, as they have, whether we are talking about the period since white settlement or right back to the great history of our indigenous people.
"I want to say at the end of my five years that I have done the very best I could — that I have used all my talents and skills and abilities and experience to do my very best."
Speaking in Menindee on the Darling River, she said any doubts she might have had about her choice were dispelled the moment she arrived in Bourke, in far north-western NSW, on Sunday.
The tough, proud little town set on the Darling in the beauty of the Australian outback, and the determined people she had met there, convinced her that she was right.
Asked whether she supported the Productivity Commission's recommendation for 18 weeks' paid maternity leave and another two weeks for fathers, Ms Bryce said Australia had been committed to paid maternity leave since it ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, more than two decades ago.
Australia had made a "reservation" at the time against actually introducing paid maternity leave, but also committed to work towards it.
Ms Bryce said she believed the time had come to introduce such a system.
"Maternity leave and parental leave is absolutely vital for strengthening families," Ms Bryce said. "It's an issue for men and women."
In an interview with The Age, Ms Bryce recalled her own health failing so badly when she had three children under the age of five that she contracted pneumonia and felt she would not be able to get out of bed to return to work, though she came from a generation that was taught "you just get on with it".
"All women need support when they're having their babies and their little families are in formation," she said.
"I have to say I have a lot of concern about the numbers of women — and men, now — who are not getting the support that they need. There are not the families and the communities around that there used to be."
Ms Bryce also said that she wanted her current journey down the Murray-Darling basin to define her as a governor-general for the bush. She chose the Murray-Darling for her first official trip because it highlighted all the issues she wanted to tackle during her term.
She nominated the well-being of rural and remote Australia as her single greatest concern.
Her trip down the river system was a first step to understanding the great challenges facing both white and indigenous communities such as water, climate change, farming, irrigation and physical dislocation from major cities.
Ms Bryce said the heart of her role was public service to all Australians, but she felt she had to set priorities. "For me, I want to give my utmost to Australians who live in remote and rural areas," she said.
"I think they include people who have enormous challenges ahead and a very significant contribution to make to the future of our country, as they have, whether we are talking about the period since white settlement or right back to the great history of our indigenous people.
"I want to say at the end of my five years that I have done the very best I could — that I have used all my talents and skills and abilities and experience to do my very best."
Speaking in Menindee on the Darling River, she said any doubts she might have had about her choice were dispelled the moment she arrived in Bourke, in far north-western NSW, on Sunday.
The tough, proud little town set on the Darling in the beauty of the Australian outback, and the determined people she had met there, convinced her that she was right.
Asked whether she supported the Productivity Commission's recommendation for 18 weeks' paid maternity leave and another two weeks for fathers, Ms Bryce said Australia had been committed to paid maternity leave since it ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, more than two decades ago.
Australia had made a "reservation" at the time against actually introducing paid maternity leave, but also committed to work towards it.
Ms Bryce said she believed the time had come to introduce such a system.
"Maternity leave and parental leave is absolutely vital for strengthening families," Ms Bryce said. "It's an issue for men and women."
Source: https://www.theage.com.au/national/parental-leave-will-strengthen-families-says-gg-20081007-4vur.html?page=-1
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