State and Federal Treasurers are set to meet in Canberra this Friday to discuss the rising issue of the tax on feminine hygiene products. This comes after the four Labor state governments put pressure on the other state governments to remove the infamous tampon tax. According to the Canberra Times, Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey…
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The 2016 presidential election is looming in Taiwan. With both major parties being led by women, Hung Hsiu-chu and Tsai Ing-wen, the country seemed poised to make history with their first female president. Now, with James Soong joining the race for presidency, this is no longer so certain. A competing factor is the distinct…
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On Lip this week Bridget Conway reviews one-woman show What’s The Matter with Mary Jane? The Lip Crew on influential feminist books Amy Mckenna writes about the gender pay gap Eden Faithfull discusses the future of women in architecture The Hollywood Bias: a new study finds that women had less than a third of speaking parts in the 700 most popular films released…
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Coalition drops ‘double dippers’, ‘rort’ rhetoric in paid parental leave discussion The Coalition has vowed to phase out its use of troubling language to describe parents, namely women, accessing both government and employer paid parental leave schemes to fund time off work with their children. The revelation comes as both the Abbott government’s Assistant Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg and…
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The Coalition’s 2015 Budget has been poorly received by various politicians, with both the Labor Party and the Greens admonishing the Abbott Government for insufficient initiative in advancing the status of women. ‘The 2015 Budget has neither the qualities or the priorities of the Australian people,’ Labor leader Bill Shorten said in his budget reply on…
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The 2015 Federal Budget is here. Its meaning for each population is shrouded by political jargon, complex statistics and three-word slogans like “have a go”. Following significant discourse, Joe Hockey has detailed who the Australian government determines most worthy of funding. Spoiler alert: it’s not the disadvantaged. Listening to Hockey’s speech, even without a political…
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Last year the New South Wales government introduced the Going Home, Staying Home reforms in an effort to reduce the growing rate of homelessness. Statistics show that around one third of all clients seeking help from specialist homelessness services in 2012-13 were experiencing domestic violence, and domestic violence is the biggest cause of homelessness for…
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After Hillary Clinton’s announcement that she will be running in the US Presidential Election next year, the drastic transformation of her image from cold and calculating to feminine and soft has raised many questions regarding her policy stances, sincerity and motives. Clinton is no stranger to media spotlight, coming under scrutiny while acting as First Lady…
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Trigger warning: this article contains discussion of rape and violence against women Stephen Sullivan is part of a movement that has gathered thousands of followers in just a few weeks. Sullivan says it has tapped into an emotion. ‘People have been thinking about what’s been happening the past few years and they’ve actually come on…
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An old refrain has rung loud and true this week: sexual and reproductive health and rights are integral to the empowerment of women. A number of organisations congregated in New York on Monday to discuss the role of said health care and rights in women’s lives at an International Planned Parenthood Foundation forum. Western Hemisphere…
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The Australian Human Rights Commission (HRC) report, entitled The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014), was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday 11 February. The report investigates the mental, emotional, and physical ramifications of mandatory detention, particularly on children. Reading this report, I was nothing short of horrified. The HRC’s investigation provides…
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Australian women who value traditional femininity are less likely to enter politics following the sexism endured by Julia Gillard, a University of Sydney study has found. More than 150 students were asked about their civic participation and aspirations for a career in parliament. Researchers found a correlation between female belief in conventional gender roles and…
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It’s no surprise that the G20 Summit has a common theme: wealthy, powerful people dictating how we should manage the wealth of poorer, less powerful people. I cringed as I heard my television bark at me that the G20 is a gathering of the ‘most powerful men in the world’. This begs the question: where…
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The week before Christmas, worshipers arrived in Sydney’s Shirelive Church carrying gifts. They were for children in Villawood detention centre. Churchgoers sat in pews, wrapped presents between their feet; amongst them was Scott Morrison, ‘looking like any modern Dad in shorts and loafers’. Yes, the very same Immigration Minister responsible for imprisoning children is…
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