But in certain so-called meritocracies across business and politics, accountability means nothing when it comes to leadership. 

Indeed, an ability to lie, deny, dodge reality and blame someone else for your “regrets” can be a much greater path to the top.

And there are few greater examples of this than former prime minister Scott Morrison. 

The ABC’s final installment of Nemesis showed this over and over again, as Morrison was asked to answer some of the moments that ultimately came to define his leadership record. 

Unfortunately for Morrison, as was the fate of his predecessors Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott, the full series also depicted the role of ego, enemies and retributive justice in ‘meritocracies’ and how they can bring leaders down, even at the expense of the party.

Underpinning it all was the Coalition’s lack of women in power and failure to do anything about it. From former PM Tony Abbott failing to include more than one woman in his Cabinet, to Julie Bishop receiving just eleven votes out of the 85 member party room during her bid for party leadership, despite being the most qualified and experienced among them. And finally, Morrison’s “clumsy” and “regretful” approach to women.

Morrison’s finger-pointing started early during the episode dedicated to his government, with him making subtle suggestions about his staff being “clunky” and making mistakes about informing people of his whereabouts in the scandal that broke when he took a holiday to Hawaii during the bushfire crisis.

“As prime minister, you don’t blame your staff. Some of those issues were clunky in their handling. But people don’t get everything right. At the end of the day I’m responsible for all of that.” 

He continued to downplay his bungled handling on the bushfires, the vaccine rollout, his relationship with other premiers, Brittany Higgins, Christine Holgate, France and much more.

There were the comments he made during a press conference when Morrison said that he’d spoken to his wife about Brittany Higgins, and Jenny and had clarified things to him with the comment, “what would you want to happen if it were our girls?” 

He said his key “regret” was bringing Jenny into it. “I should never have disclosed what Jenny and I talk about,” he said. 

Asked about the infamous line suggesting women protesting outside parliament should be grateful not to be “met with bullets”, Morrison said his response was “clumsy” and that “Jenny would agree”. He laughed it off, comparing himself to being, “like most suburban dads”. 

There was the PM’s treatment of former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate, who was humiliated and effectively fired on the floor of parliament. Even Barnaby Joyce could see the issue here, “you don’t go into a public forum and berate another person,” he said. 

But Morrison, again, had little time to reflect on the moment or extensively reconsider his actions. Instead, he said he probably should have drunk some water before speaking.

There was Morrison’s declaration that the vaccine rollout was “not a race”, sparking fury from many Australians and especially health professionals.

Once again, Morrison had “regrets” over his words, but he was also quick to point the finger – noting that former health secretary Brendan Murphy “had been using this phrase quite regularly in our briefing.” 

There was, more generally, Morrison’s overall record on women, which many would argue played a huge factor in the Coalition being decimated at the last election. 

Morrison denied he had a problem with women and his “professional record of where I’ve worked and how I’ve worked for my entire life, I don’t think indicates that at all.” 

Many women in his government disagreed, including former MP Julia Banks, who said he “has a really weak, if no regard, particularly for working women with children.” 

The PM was “brutal” and “disrespectful”, former Queensland (Labor) Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, reflecting on a particularly “threatening” phone call in September 2020.

Finally, there was the revelation of Morrison’s many secret ministries that came out three months after the Coalition lost the 2022 election. Treasurer Frydenberg – whom Morrison said had shared many nights playing pool and watching Yes Minister with at the lodge during lockdowns – said he was extremely disappointed and thought it was an example of “extreme overreach.” Frydenberg said the matter impacted their relationship and “still does to this day”. 

But Morrison saw things differently. He said he apologised to the former Treasurer and they are “as good a friends as you could hope for”. 

Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie said that she’d hate for people to look at the nine years the Coalition spent in government and think it “was all about leadership, rivalry, revenge, factional warfare, Liberals versus National Party turf wars.” 

But it’s hard to think of anything else. How much was actually achieved? As for what was achieved, how much of it was done to appease individuals and make good on alliances? 

Would things have been different if those nine years if more women had been included in this Liberal party’s idea of a meritocracy?

Morrison claims he listened to women. But as former minister Karen Andrews said, it’s not clear which, if any women, he did listen to — other than his wife.

“If Scott Morrison had included more women, or any women, in his inner circle, I believe that wouldn’t affected every single decision that was made,” she said.  

Let that be a lesson for any “meritocracy” that still fails to include women.

Pictured above: Julie Bishop, former Foreign Affairs minister and Deputy Prime Minister, in 2014. She received just 11 votes during a 2018 leadership ballot triggered by current Opposition leader Peter Dutton, one of those votes being her own. Bishop announced her resignation from politics in 2019. She did not appear in any part of the Nemesis docuseries.

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Footage published on Friday by the Daily Mail show Joyce, inexplicably sprawled on the ground next to a planter box in popular Canberra precinct (well known for its plentiful bars and pubs), Braddon. Joyce is filmed having a phone conversation with his wife Vikki Campion while uttering the words: “Dead f**cking c*nt”.

Joyce has admitted to drinking prior to the incident, suggesting that a cocktail of a “prescription drug” mixed with booze led to “certain things” happening.

This morning, Joyce told Seven’s Sunrise that “obviously I made a big mistake” and “there’s no excuse for it” but “there is a reason”.

“It was a very eventful walk home, wasn’t it,” he said.

“I should’ve followed … I’m on a prescription drug, and they say certain things may happen to you if you drink, and they were absolutely 100 per cent right. They did.”

Mr Joyce said over the weekend that the incident was “very embarrassing” and happened when he was walking back to his accommodation after parliament had risen late at 10pm.

“While on the phone I sat on the edge of a plant box, fell over, kept talking on the phone, and very animatedly was referring to myself for having fallen over,” he told the ABC in a statement.

What our reaction to this story says about us

On Saturday morning, my partner and I were talking (and laughing…a lot) about the footage over breakfast. Our response, like much of the nation boiled down to this: “Standard Barnaby”.

Memes circulated across social media, and some quick-thinking Canberran humorously chalked an outline of Joyce’s body next to the planter box where the incident took place. I shared it on our Women’s Agenda group Slack channel with three laughing emojis.

But this morning, as I was thinking more deeply about the situation, I was left with a profound sense of shame. Because I know, in my heart of hearts, that if a female parliamentarian were to act in the same way, my response wouldn’t be to laugh it off and deem it standard practice.

We have always given social and cultural licence to male politicians acting like they live in a frat house.

We lauded former Labor PM Bob Hawke’s “world record” allegedly achieved at Oxford University for a beer scull of a yard of ale in 11 seconds. The admiration 40 years on is still so strong that Hawke has a brewing company and multiple beers named in his honour.

When Tony Abbott missed a series of key parliamentary votes in 2009 because he was drunk and passed out on a couch, we shrugged it off. When he broke a table in his office after his election loss, we did the same.

When Kevin Rudd’s trip to a New York strip club was reported, voters loved it.

We let male politicians off the hook for what we deem as “laddish” antics, when really what we’re staring down the barrel of is a total disregard for their privileged and highly public positions as well as their duty to represent the interests of voters.

And Joyce has always been given greater leeway. In 2018, Jacqueline Maley wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald that a woman would not be afforded the “level of personal complexity” that Joyce is. We observe his regular transgressions and rather than question or condemn them, we relegate them to the wild world of Barnaby Joyce. It’s good to have a colourful character in parliament.

The prime minister’s response to Joyce’s latest misdemeanour is telling. Albanese firstly said the incident was a matter for the Nationals party, and avoided making a comment when asked about it during a radio interview on Friday.

When accused of sexism on the matter, Albanese then said Mr Joyce should explain himself.

But the truth is that Albanese wouldn’t have wanted to take an emphatic stance against Joyce’s conduct lest Australian voters accuse him of being a party pooper. No one likes a Barnaby buzz kill.

Yet, when Lidia Thorpe was filmed outside a strip club in Melbourne yelling explosively at a group of men (allegedly about Indigenous affairs), Albanese was swift and sharp in his condemnation. He described her behaviour as “clearly unacceptable” and urged her to “get some support”.

In 2021, Nationals Senator Sam McMahon lost her preselection race just days after accusations reared that she had been drunk in the parliament – which she denied and blamed instead on hypertension.

My point with this is not to condone the the abuse of alcohol by one group and not another, but to show how palpable the double standard is between men and women in politics. And how this double standard infiltrates and influences all of us.

Even me.

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Sixty two per cent of funding deals went to all-male founding teams, compared to 12 per cent for all-female founding teams and 26 per cent for teams involving at least one female founder.

The figures from the latest State of Australian Start-up Funding Report released today highlight how much the Australian startup ecosystem is missing out on by largely failing to include one-half of the population.

These dire numbers again point to signs of a sick startup sector in Australia.

Indeed, when just four per cent of investor capital goes to all female founding teams and just 18 per cent of funds raised go to mixed-gender teams, we can’t pretend to believe that we’re getting the innovation, technological advancements, competitiveness and best ideas that should stem from a healthy startup ecosystem. We also can’t hope to achieve the social impact and development that such an ecosystem could support.

These new figures show that investing in startups is still largely a men’s game, despite increasing rhetoric on the need to invest in women, and despite the excellent ideas and proven results of women launching businesses that have great impact and returns.

Incredibly, that four per cent is actually an increase on the previous year’s figure.

But that four per cent is concentrated across just a handful of deals. In 2023, half of all funding secured by teams with at least one female founder was shared between just five startups: Constantinople, Secure Code Warrior, Silicon Quantum Computing, Loam and Fleet.

The median size of deals for all male teams was $3 million in 2023, compared to $0.7 million for all female-founded teams and $1 million for mixed-gender teams. This trend has been going on for years. Since 2019, there have been only three funding rounds by all female founding teams worth more than $50 million, representing just 2.5 per cent of such funding rounds. Seven such teams have completed funding rounds worth more than $20 million, representing 2.1 percent of all rounds in that category.

While there is more movement on investors recognising and talking about these issues — and a win in that 58 per cent of the 50 most active investors in Australia invested in a startup with a female founder, compared with just 28 per cent in 2022 — it’s difficult to overlook the fact these figures mean 42 per cent of these active investors did not invest in a woman at all in 2023.

So what are investors doing about the imbalance? Not enough, according to the survey of investors included in this report.

Seventy-two per cent of investors reported they are looking at “ensuring diversity within investment team”, while 34 per cent say they are partnering with diversity-focused accelerators and incubators. Just half (51 per cent) said they are sourcing deals from networks focused on underrepresented entrepreneurs, and just 50 per cent said they have collaborated with industry to promote diversity and inclusion. Less than a third (27 per cent) have policies to ensure diverse representation management and boards within their portfolios. Fourty one per cent are still not recording and analysing the diversity metrics of applicant founders.

There were some small upticks for women in this report. First, 18 per cent of equity capital went to teams with at least one female co founder, an increase on the previous year’s figure, at just 10 per cent. And 26 per cent of all deals done involved at least one female co founder, up from 23 per cent on the previous year.

Founders have big ambitions ahead. Eighty two per cent of the women founders surveyed said they plan to raise capital in 2024. We wait to see what happens next and how investors will better consider diversity in their portfolios.

Meanwhile, some initiatives are emerging to push for transparency and potential targets in investment portfolios.

More than 50 firms have committed to publicly disclosing data on how many female-led businesses they have screened, vetted, and funded. Led by Scale investors, Alberts Investment and Giant Leap, they’re on a mission to enlist at least 100 Australian firms.

This is the third edition of State of Australian Startup Founding Report, jointly published by Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures. This year’s version highlights a significant drop in overall funding for startups, down from $7.4 billion in 2022 to $3.5 billion in 2022, which reflects an overall global downturn in such funding.

The report notes that artificial intelligence is the most anticipated sector for 2024, while strong interest remains for enterprise/business software as well as climate tech/cleantech.

Pictured above: Tegan Nock, co founder in the agritech business Loam, which achieved one of the five largest rounds involving a female founder in 2023.

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Looking back at that time, Abbott’s election felt like a momentary blip in ‘politics as normal’. Dubbed the unelectable “Mad Monk”, his decisive victory against Kevin Rudd left many Australians (even supporters) scratching their heads. Surely this was an aberration that would soon be set straight?

Of course, as things rolled on, we started to realise that Abbott wasn’t an isolated issue, he was the tip of the iceberg for a coalition party ripe to rupture at the seams. An era of Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison and now Dutton leaderships ensued, illuminating how far wrong things could go?

Some other key take-aways from last night’s episode:

Tony Abbott’s myriad gaffes are much funnier in retrospect

Reflecting on the numerous times Tony Abbott embarrassed himself royally in public brings so much more joy now, than when he was leading the country. Now, we can look back on that classic onion chow-down and chuckle freely without worrying about his actual power and influence. The “suppository of wisdom” that knighted Prince Philip at a time he was already precariously low in the polls. Lols aplenty? “You bet you are”.

Fear campaigns still lie at the heart of the Liberal agenda

In what seemed like glee and admiration, colleagues like Eric Abetz and Michaelia Cash reflected on Abbott’s cunning ability to utilise three-word slogans to engender fear in the Australian populace. “Stop the boats”, “Stop the taxes”, lines that were drilled into our national psyche for months and caused Australians to stop caring about anything progressive and aspirational. More than a decade on, we see Peter Dutton employ similar fear campaigns in a bid to divide the country: “Boycott Woolworths”, et al.

Legacy matters nought for any of these blokes

Wyatt Roy recounted a conversation with Tony Abbott in which he queried the leader’s vision for the country. He didn’t receive a productive or professional response. The reason? Abbott could only ever fight for what he was against, not what he stood for. Turnbull showed promise for better things, but his commitment to the cause inevitably fell short. Why did we end up with an economically and socially costly plebiscite on gay marriage for instance, rather than a leader’s call? Morrison always cared more about politics (and God) than good policy. He openly admitted to “not thinking” about legacy. And Dutton? Well his time continues, but let’s just say the markers of anything impressive aren’t showing up strong.

Craig Laundy really hates tuna

In perhaps the oddest anecdote from last night’s episode, former MP Craig Laundy revealed that during a secret leadership spill meeting at Peter Hendy’s house, he was offered dinner. Upon finding out Hendy’s wife had dared to cook tuna mornay, Laundy suggested they order pizza because: “I really can’t do tuna”. Big stuff.

“You reap what you sow”

These are the words of Linda Reynolds and other colleagues reflecting on Turnbull’s inevitable ousting of Abbott. But is this what real leadership boils down to? We blindly accept that ego and revenge defined this long era in political history; that Abbott, Turnbull and then Morrison, were destined to fail because of their personal agendas and vendettas. But imagine, for a second, if each had played honourably? If they’d accepted democratic processes and just got on with it? It does beg the question: where would we be now? We might have more policies to be proud about.

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According to the results of one country following such a change, it absolutely can. 

Taiwan amended legislation in 2021 to increase the rate of paid parental leave for parents from 60 per cent of their insured salary to 80 per cent, applied to previously available six months of leave. Other legislated changes included the addition of flexibility, with parents able to take off a month or more at a time, rather than having to take the full six months in one go. 

The changes resulted in an immediate uptick of fathers taking leave, at 25.2 per cent of “married parents” who took leave in 2022, rising from 18.2 per cent the year before. That result saw a total of 25,100 fathers taking leave in 2022. 

The changes came via amendments to the Employment Insurance Act in July 2021, and during the second term of Taiwan’s first female president, Tsai Ing-Wen, specifically aimed at promoting “gender-friendly workplaces” and encouraging more men to take part in housework and care. 

The results were revealed in a paper released by Taiwan this week, 2024 Gender at a Glance in the ROC, and comes just months after Taiwan was ranked the highest in Asia and sixth globally across the 179 countries listed on the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index. Taiwan trails the well-known leaders on gender equality, including Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden, but comes in ahead of Australia, the United States and the UK. Last year was the first time Taiwan appeared on this Index. 

Taiwan boasts other impressive results according to this week’s government paper, including having 41.6 per cent of its legislature being made up of women at January’s election, although this is slightly down from the 42.5 per cent achieved following its latest 2022 legislative by-election. 

Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage in May 2019, with more than 7000 men and almost 18,000 women registering for such marriages by the end of 2023. 

Taiwan also introduced anti-sexual harassment laws in 2023, following a number of sexual assault claims against celebrities and other powerful figures, including within the Democratic Progressive Party, that sparked a number of resignations. The new laws saw an expansion of workplaces covered to now include those with at least 10 employees, as well as an extension on the statute of limitations. All employers covered must establish channels for sexual harassment reporting, and must then investigate all sexual harassment complaints and report findings to local authorities or face the consequence of fines.  

Taiwan has been led by its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, for the past eight years, who has been credited with leading the country successfully through the pandemic and promoting a strong Taiwanese identity separate from China. Her successor, William Lai Ching-te, was successfully elected at the presidential and legislative elections earlier this month. The president-elect has been Tsai Ing-wen’s VP since 2020 and will officially become president in May 2023.

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A much more likely approach to receiving such accolades is to pursue services to ‘business’ to ‘law’ and even to the “Anglican Church”.

For the second year in a row, a slightly higher number of women than men have been recognised in the general division of the Australia Day honours list, at 50.5 per cent. This continued progress is welcome. But at this rate, we still have decades ahead before the overall gender gap in who has been recognised since 1975 closes altogether.

Analysing words used in describing the services offered by the 739 Australians to be recognised this year, the word ‘care’ rarely comes up.

According to this analysis of the description fields, just one Australian has been celebrated for their work in childcare, with Louise Maiden receiving an award for her services to primary and early childhood education. 

Just two have ‘aged care” in their award description, including Deborah Parker, a registered nurse specialising in aged care now pursuing vital research work on palliative care for older people Not one recipient has the term ‘disability care’ in their award description, although there are others who have received recognition for their disability advocacy work, including Ellie Cole.

To put these figures in perspective, it helps to consider some of the more prominent areas highlighted. 

There are 36 individuals with ‘business’ in their award description. Another 25 have the word ‘law’ in their description, while 13 mention ‘media’. Science is also highly represented, with 26 mentions. 

There are twelve mentions of ‘church’, with ‘Anglican Church’ dominating this list with five mentions. 

While there are 76 recipients with the word ‘education’ in their award description, with most of their work being in academia or in offering education services to key industries – rather than in primary or second education, or in early childhood education.

One mention of childcare was the same as one mention of ‘for service to lawn bowls’.

The word ‘care’ is only mentioned eight times across the list of 700 plust Australians recognised, mostly this is related to healthcare. 

Overall, and as with previous years, the majority of the awards have been given for services to the Community, at 310, followed by medicine at 77, and then sport and leisure, at 58.

It should be noted that some recognition in this year’s list for supporting and advocating for key communities — such as multicultural communities, Indigenous communities and migrant communities — may not carry the word ‘care’ in the description of services but would incorporate care, including Dr Sabrin Farooqui, who we spoke to on her own a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to community and multicultural affairs. There is also great work recognised in areas like reproductive rights and human rights.

None of the above is shared to suggest that those receiving awards for services to areas like business and law shouldn’t be recognised. Far from it.

Rather, sharing these figures highlights the opportunity for more diversity — among both the individuals nominated and ultimately recognised, as well as in recognising and celebrating the different types of work people do.

There is clearly a great opportunity to celebrate better and acknowledge the work of those in care-related fields: disability care, childcare, aged care, as well as primary and secondary school teaching.

Better recognising individuals for their work in care will not only grant them the recognition they deserve, but it will also go a long way in building up how we generally value anyone who works in these fields.

Plus, getting care work better recognised will have the inevitable affect also of seeing the overall proportion of women recognised going up too, given women still make up the overwhelming majority of those working in these fields.

Governor General David Hurley says there is a priority in ensuring the Order reflects the diversity of our community.

He said that “work continues to increase nominations for outstanding individuals from parts of our community that have been historically underrepresented, including women, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

An approach to doing the above could and should include looking areas of ‘service’ that are underrepresented in these awards.

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No, I haven’t been scanning Finnish newspapers or mixing reality with an episode of Succession. 

Rather, I’ve engaged in reading about the morning routines of Australian businesspeople. It makes for classic, voyeuristic reading, once you move past any personal frustration about how your own care responsibilities would make replicating such routines impossible.

I learned about the sauna business meeting from an Australian executive quoted in the Australian Financial Review this week, who shared that his morning routine includes a 5:30am walk with his toddler (great) before getting a coffee, returning the kid home to his wife, going for a 5km run and then having a sauna and an ice bath. Five days a week. 

This executive then shared that clients are increasingly moving on from dinners as the norm for business meetings and are taking the option to go for a walk (great idea), or actually go for a 7am sauna and ice bath. And so a few days a week, this executives shares his sauna and ice bathing experiences with others, while they talk through ideas.

Baffled by this and a little alarmed at the thought of being invited to a meeting in a sauna, I did a quick search for evidence of saunas and ice baths being a common place for business meetings outside of Finland.

It’s possible the COVID-19 pandemic put a swift end to any emerging trend, particularly for startups in Scandinavia, where in 2019 calls were made by women in the startup community for tech events to “stay away” from including saunas until the lack of diversity in tech was sorted. In 2012, the Financial Times shared an explainer on the etiquette of sauna networking in Finland, noting that “full nudity is particularly important if you are with business contacts”. Good to know. In 2023, an Australian-based sauna business offered a guide for business owners on creating the best possible setting for meeting and bonding activities, incorporating photos of attractive women wearing nothing but towels. 

Business meetings in saunas before breakfast are not the ideal morning routine for everyone. Nor are routines that include journalling, complex teamaking, lifting weights, hanging from the pullup bar for three minutes, or even having just one minute to yourself in the morning.

Other routines shared by the business press these past few weeks include that of AICD director Mark Rigotti, who swims three kilometres (three kilometres!) every morning. Carla Zampatti CEO Alex Schuman says his morning routine is “entirely based around coffee”. Westpac digital strategy head Jessica Hallett says she likes an early morning walking meeting or coffee with a colleague. David Donnoli from Swisse Wellness had a refreshing take — he wakes before his kids so he can jump on his phone to check social media for ten minutes. Then he gets up and makes breakfast for the entire family – well everyone but himself, as he fasts 17 hours a day. 

But as for saunas and ice baths, you don’t have to search too far to read about more businessmen swearing by the daily benefits, even if it’s costing them a small fortune to access them.

Entrepreneur Paul Hanney tells the AFR he is up at 4:30am and goes directly from his bed to his ice bath, already set at three degrees. “If I can’t handle cold water, how on earth am I meant to handle any stress throughout the day?” (Maybe the same way the rest of us do?) Hanney then goes to his personal training session at an executive gym, eats food formulated by his nutritionist, and finishes his day with a 30-minute meditation session in his personal infrared sauna. He tells the AFR he spends around $50,000 on his health every year, which equates to around two thirds of the average Australian salary. 

Morning routines really have evolved. Especially for those with the time and money.

As for the evolution of business meeting locations, I’m not convinced ice baths and saunas are the way forward for bringing together more diverse ideas and people.

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That transparency will come in late February when the gender pay gaps of employers in Australia with 100 or more team members are made public.

The result will be scrutiny of employers by their team members, questioning what they will do to close such gaps and how quickly they can make it happen. Further external scrutiny will come from potential new hires, an employer’s wider industry, their clients, competitors, and the media.

It’s a shame, then, that some of the progress pay transparency could provide for closing the gender pay gap could then be undermined by tax changes that are set to favour men over women.

Those tax changes are coming via the Stage 3 Tax cuts due to start in July.

At first glance, the demand for equal pay from larger employers could seem like the perfect opportunity to address the gender imbalance of who will benefit from these tax cuts, should women receive salary increases that push them up higher income brackets.

But there is no way advancements on equal pay can keep pace with how fast these tax cuts will be distributed. This equal pay won’t just happen, it will require a significant fight. And the coming pay transparency work will, unfortunately, do little to make up for how the female-dominated care sectors like early childhood education continue to be undervalued.

As such, these tax changes remain one of several elephants in the room of the Albanese Government’s push to address women’s economic security. A push that has included a number of positive initiatives, including reform of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency to give it the power to publish employer gender pay gaps, as well as last year’s pay rise for aged care workers, the appointment of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce and raising the age limit for single parenting payments. But a push that is seeing positives undermined by a fear of tweaking or moving on from commitments made by a different government and during a very different time (to be fair, the Coalition are already clearly preparing their ‘broken promise’ talking points)

As the legislated tax cuts currently stand, no tax cut is coming for those earning less than $45,000. Rather, the changes favour high-income earners, raising the top tax bracket to $200,000 and taxing all incomes between $45,000 and $200,000 at the same rate of 30 per cent. This will mean those earning $200,000 a year will receive a tax reduction of $9075 a year compared to a $125 a year reduction for those on $50,000. (Check out our recent explainer here)

Men are set to take 67 per cent of the savings from these tax cuts compared to 33 per cent for women, according to analysis by the Australia Institute.  

Updated Parliamentary Budget Office estimates released by The Greens and published in The Guardian today reiterate the inequity in the figures to come, with the cost of the cuts now estimated to be $323.6 billion over the next decade. The figures reveal that the lowest-earning 40 per cent of households will get nothing during the first year of the cuts, while the next 20 per cent will share in $1.2 billion, and the top 40 per cent will receive up to $15.9 billion. The Greens say the changes will deliver 77 per cent of the tax cuts to the wealthiest 20 per cent of society over the next financial year. The Greens say these tax cuts “give $2 to men for every $1 to women.”

Elderly single women, as well as female sole parents, are overrepresented when it comes to those on low incomes. Sixty-one per cent of mothers are raising children on less than $60,000 a year, according to a 2023 study by the Council of Single Mothers and their Children. Eighty-seven per cent say they are concerned about their long-term financial wellbeing.

Acting Greens leader Merheen Faruqi says she and Nick McKim have written to the Treasurer, urging him to scrap the Stage 3 tax cuts.

“Labor’s tax cuts for the rich are getting bigger by the day, and will turbocharge inequality and inflation,” she shared on social media.

The prime minister is set to address the National Press Club this coming Thursday, where he will outline new cost-of-living measures that will “put extra” dollars in low- and middle-income earners’ pockets.

On Tuesday morning, Albanese hinted that rather than scrapping the tax cuts, they could be expanded to include lower-income earners with a promise on KIIS FM radio that “everyone” would get a tax cut in the next financial year

Such a move would be a welcome and necessary tweak to the legislated stage 3 tax cuts package. But it’s unlikely to dramatically remove the full extent of gender inequity these tax cuts are set to provide.  

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Unfortunately, this intentional hunt for women only came after international condemnation of the petrostate of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, having the audacity to go public with a committee that failed to include a single woman.

Indeed, there were more fossil fuel executives than there were women when the committee was first announced. And there were more men named Anar, than women, including Assistant to the President Anar Alakbarov and Urban Planning State Committee chair Anar Guliyev.

Incredibly, President Ilham Aliyev only took a couple of days to unveil the 12 women they had found, including Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva and Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva. At the same time, Aliyev also found another two men, creating a 42-person committee.

When Aliyev announced the 28 all-male committee last week, the international condemnation came swiftly and quickly.

While it would have been nice to hear from more prominent current and former country leaders, women’s voices were notably the loudest.

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was “appalled” by the move. Teresa Ribera, the deputy Prime Minister of Spain declared, “no woman to host … may mean… no woman willing to come… resulting in… no COP” on social media.

Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief responsible for the groundbreaking Paris Agreement, and arguably one of the most successful climate negotiators of all time, described the all-male committee as “shocking and unacceptable”.

Meanwhile, 75 female business and political leaders worldwide sent an open letter to the president declaring that the best outcomes could depend on the president including “as many women as possible” on the committee. The letter from the We Mean Business Coalition said the eyes of the world will be on Baku, and noted that “gender diversity is crucial to successful negotiations and decision-making, bringing with it better, bolder decisions that have been shown to last.”

The Coalition also highlighted the role of women in some of the most successful COP negotiations, including the Paris Agreement, which was led by women — a notable success, given just five women have even been presidents of these global climate negotiations.

Women’s leadership at international negotiation tables is already lacking, making the need to intentionally include women in organising committees like this one all the more essential. At last year’s COP, just 15 out of the 140 speakers on the main stage were women, a slight increase from the number in 2022.

This is despite the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls, including how extreme weather events impact women’s safety and contribute to gender-based violence, the evidence that child marriages increase in areas impacted by climate risks, especially drought, as well as how climate change further prevents girls from accessing education.

As Women’s Agenda shared last year in The Climate Load, climate change is and will continue to affect the safety and health of women in Australia, while women must be included in the massive industry upheaval required ahead if Australia is to be successful in meeting our emission reduction targets.

The swift action taken by the president to appoint 12 women to the committee was “warmly welcomed,” according to Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition.

But the fact that in 2024 a president is appointing 28 men and no woman to any organising committee is nothing short of jaw-dropping, let alone a committee tasked with organising critical global climate negotiations.

The post Women found! But only after all-male climate committee called out appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Some say the focus from commentators on the fact three former Australian Open champions, including Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, are making their Australian Open comebacks this year for the first time as mothers is overdone and overhyped, given how little is said about male athletes who’ve recently become fathers. 

But hearing these women share their journeys to becoming new parents and watching them on court displaying incredible form and fitness is a win for the game and a win for supporting the aspirations of mothers across all industries. It’s also an opportunity to move the postbirth conversation away from weight loss and body shape to being about how women can set themselves up to recover, regain strength and discuss the role of support mechanisms in enabling women to meet the demands of having a newborn alongside having a career.

Osaka and Kerber have both given birth in the past year, while Wozniacki returns to the Open after leaving tennis in early 2020 to have her first child in early 2021 and second in 2022.

On Monday, Osaka lost her first tournament match 6-4, 7-6(2) to Caroline Garcia.

But Osaka’s raw vulnerability in opening up about her disappointment and having to remind herself how far she’s come over the past year marked a different kind of win.

Monday’s match was Osaka’s first in a grand slam tournament in fifteen months, and came just six months after giving birth to her daughter.

“I have to tell myself: ‘Hey six months ago you were pregnant,” she said following the defeat.

Giving birth is a massive physical feat, coming after months of carrying a baby, that can have long-lasting physical injuries. As Osaka said in a recent interview, “having a baby completely destroys your pelvic floor”.

Another aspect of Osaka’s journey that will undoubtedly be on new parents’ minds is what comes after the physical and emotional feat of being pregnant and giving birth. Those first few months with a newborn (often referred to as a fourth trimester) involves sleepless and unpredictable nights, months of recovery after carrying and delivering a child, as well as the emotional adjustment and transition that comes with becoming a parent.

Osaka hinted at the adjustment she was experiencing during the post-match interview. 

She suggested she’s not quite feeling herself nor at her physical peak. Hence having to remind herself that it’s been less than half a year since she gave birth. 

Then there is the “voice in her head” reminding her about the changes she’s experienced and generating a little of the all-too-familiar “imposter” feeling that new parents can especially feel strongly in the months after returning to work.

Osaka described that inner voice as saying, “What are you thinking you can come back and immediately start winning matches?” 

“I kind of always expect myself to stand a chance anyway. So I guess just being nice to myself is like a thing that I learned in my time away,” she said. 

Osaka also uses her platform and experience to front a public campaign calling for paid family and medical leave to be passed in the United States, which remains one of just six countries globally with no national paid parental leave policy.

Just prior to the tournament, Osaka shared with Glamour how she has been profoundly changed by motherhood. She described pain and challenges during the postpartum period and how much her life transformed overnight, but she highlighted the positives she’s taken on, including that she feels strong following childbirth and that she feels like she can “do anything and nothing will bother me”. Nor do the opinions of others bother her anymore.

Osaka returned to training 15 days after giving birth — a challenge that is not for everyone, and one made possible through the team she had around her. She said she immediately thought she had to do “a lot of sit ups” to rebuild her pelvic floor as she struggled to get out of bed in the early days, but quickly learned that rather she needed to do “deep pelvic floor work”. She had the team and information to help her learn these things — something she concedes not a lot of people have access to.

This tournament is highlighting how stereotypes continue to be smashed regarding what female athletes can and can’t do after having a baby. Keep an eye on favourite Elina Svitolina, who is yet to win a grand slame but has cemented herself as one of the tour’s best players after returning from parental leave in the first half of 2023, including by going on to a superb run at Wimbledon.

The post Naomi Osaka’s open vulnerability on tennis as a new mother is a win appeared first on Women's Agenda.

So what will that mean for women in leadership at a time when men still overwhelmingly dominate on the world stage?

Less than a third of United Nations member states have ever had a woman at the helm. Just 15 countries currently have a woman as Head of State, and 16 have a woman as Head of Government, according to UN Women. 

Just over a quarter (26.5 per cent) of parliamentarians in single or lower houses were women in 2023. While that is up 11 per cent in 1995, the pace of change is far from enough to see women get equal representation in legislative decision-making within our lifetimes. 

And despite 49 per cent of the world’s population living in countries due to hold elections over the coming 12 months, we’re unlikely to see much movement on these numbers. That means men will continue dominating the world stage, including during vital international negotiations on areas like conflict, trade and addressing climate change. 

Indeed, 2024 also marks the final year in office for several influential female leaders, including Taiwan’s first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, who was credited with leading the country through the pandemic and standing up to China. In Taiwan’s election this weekend, Ing-Wen’s vice president turned leader of the Democratic Progressive Party, William Lai, achieved a resounding victory in what’s been seen as support for continuing Ing-wen’s legacy.

But there are bright spots for women’s representation. Some countries have several women emerging as strong election contenders and future country leaders, with some likely firsts ahead for women.

Mexico is destined to see its first female president elected in 2024 when elections take place in June, with the two leading candidates being women. Claudia Sheinbaum is a former Mexico City Mayor and the current frontrunner, with one of her main rivals being the candidate for the opposition, Senator Xóchitl Gálvez.

Both of these female candidates are progressive on issues like abortion, women’s rights and the treatment of minorities. If Sheinbaum wins, she will not only be the first woman but also the first Jewish president.

In Uruguay, Carolina Cosse is a strong contender running for president after entering politics in 2007 following a career in telecommunications. She is progressive and reported to be committed to feminism. Another female contender is Laura Raffo, who first ran for office in 2020 and has a prominent profile following a television and business and economics background.

Meanwhile, Maria Corina Machado is the opposition hopeful for president in Venezuela and a strong contender.

Lithuania’s first female prime minister, Ingrida Šimonytė, will be running for president during the 2024 presidential election, with the parliamentary election due to happen a few months later.

Moldova President Maia Sandu’s term has delivered strong results for one of Europe’s poorest countries since she was elected in 2020. She has overseen the energy crisis, the country’s response to the pandemic, as well as the spillover consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sandu is hoping for s second term when the country votes, in an early election she called to firm up support in leading into the country’s parliamentary vote, expected in early 2025. The election also includes a referendum asking whether voters support EU integration. 

An early 2024 election in Bangladesh resulted in one of the few women leading a country to retain power, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina winning her fourth consecutive term in office. She has held the position since 2009, now winning another five years in office — with concerns raised about Bangladesh increasingly being under a one-party rule. 

Elsewhere, men dominate the candidate lists of country elections, with 2024 potentially set to firm up the rule of ‘strongmen further’. 

In the United States, Nikki Haley has a small chance of becoming the Republican candidate for the presidential election, but Donald Trump is still the overwhelming favourite despite dealing with multiple criminal and civil lawsuits. President Joe Biden remains the most likely Democratic candidate. 

Russia is also holding a presidential election this year, with President Vladimir Putin likely to secure the vote to win a fourth term – after the country’s constitution was changed in 2020 to allow him to run again. Putin’s main democratic rival Alexei Navalny is currently in a high-security prison, making him ineligible to run. 

Meanwhile, Europeans will also vote for the European parliament midway through the year, with the centre-right European People’s Party’s Manfred Weber currently tipped to win. And Ursula von der Leyen is facing an uphill battle to remain president of the European Commission, thanks to expected changes in how the European Union applies rules on how future presidents are selected. 

The United Kingdom could have a general election at some point in 2024, with current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declaring he would call for it in the second half of the year. Polling indicates Sunak’s ruling Tories are headed for a wipeout that would put Labour in power for the first time and, should he stay part leader, deliver the prime ministership for Labour leader Keir Starmer. 

One billion people in India are also expected to vote this year, marking the largest election in the world as Narendra Modi seeks a second term. 

In Pakistan, Imran Khan is expected to run from prison, with the former premier convicted for corruption, which he is currently appealing. 

Other countries headed to the polls this year include presidential elections for Algeria, Indonesia, Chad, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Rwanda, Croatia, Iceland, Slovakia and Finland. Parliamentary votes will also happen in Portugal, Lithuania and Slovakia. 

Regardless of whether female candidates are running or not in these country votes, women’s rights, safety and economic opportunities will be affected by the outcomes of these elections and 2024 will be a seriously consequential year when it comes to international relations, climate action, world trade and ultimately world peace.

Zuzana Čaputová’s powerful farewell speech regarding the future of democracy 

Slovakia’s first female president, Zuzana Čaputová, announced she would be stepping down in 2023 with the country to vote for a new president in March 2024.

She has been progressive during her term and has countered the power of Prime Minister Robert Fico, including his push to shut down the country’s anti-corruption prosecutor’s office and pledge to end support for Ukraine.

During her final New Year’s Day speech, she urged the country to “protect and promote our constitutional democratic values” and called for free media and for respect and decency. 

Her speech shared several meaningful comments on the future of democracy and some of the shared challenges different parts of the planet have ahead, including misinformation, inequality, a loss of trust in institutions, a generation of younger people feeling misunderstood and lonely, and the general erosion of community cohesion.

She said that after five years in office, she is convinced that one of the biggest obstacles the culture faces is a lack of culture, especially in politics and the number of conflicts that occur in their society. 

“Animosity becomes a hallmark of public life. However, it also spills over into our families, households and relationships between people,” she said.

“Rudeness, vulgarity and lying are not signs of strength but of weakness. Weak people resort to them. They are impressed by such behaviour, and so they repeat it. True strength lies in calmness and perspective. And the greatest strength is the ability to control yourself.’ 

“We simply need more truth and love… Finally, remembering the values and qualities proved over centuries does not have to be pathetic. They are not a sign of their devaluation. But on the contrary, it confirms their validity and importance. And we still need them now. 

“We all need more kindness and understanding in communication, in interactions, even when we disagree. Actually, especially then.” 

Zuzana Čaputová’s call for kindness and understanding could not be more apt in this hugely consequential year for democracy.

The post Men set to still dominate leadership this record-breaking election year but some firsts ahead for women appeared first on Women's Agenda.

According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average temperature in 2023 was 0.17C higher than in 2016, (the previous record year) with the causes of increased global heating attributed largely to record emissions of carbon dioxide along with the natural climate phenomenon El Niño.

It was so hot in fact, that C3S director Carlo Buontempo described it yesterday as “a very exceptional year, climate-wise… in a league of its own, even when compared to other very warm years.”

But it won’t be exceptional for long. Ten days into 2024, there’s no sign of relief. While the world is yet to breach the 2015 Paris Agreement target of preventing global warming surpassing 1.5C, climate scientists warn that the figure is likely to eclipse that this year.

And we know that it’s women who will bear the brunt of climate change impacts both in Australia and across the world. It’s women who will lose job and education opportunities. It’s women who will face a myriad of adverse health affects. It’s women who will be left most vulnerable.

And it’s this knowledge of the escalation of climate change and ongoing heatwaves, coupled with the sheer injustice of society’s expectation on women to cover up, that really tips me over the edge.

Living on the Northern Rivers of NSW’s far north coast, days here in Summer regularly climb well beyond 35 degrees.

And, do you know what I see? I see women all around me suffering. I watch as they throw themselves down in coffee shops, breathing heavily and wiping sweat from their faces. Their visible bra lines digging into their shoulders, and shirts clinging mercilessly to sticky bodies. I see them grappling with small children and laptops and mental loads the size of Antarctica (which is incidentally where they’d rather be).

Men on the other hand? They casually stride around shirtless; on the street, in shopping centres, at parks, at the beach.

They don’t feel unsafe to do so. They don’t feel embarrassed. They don’t feel ashamed. They don’t (generally) feel uneasily sexualised and objectified.

While in Australia, indecent exposure laws only refer to the genital area, you will rarely, if ever, see a woman expose her breasts in public. You won’t see a woman, no matter how fed-up, hot or grossly uncomfortable she may be, casually strip off her top and stroll into the local IGA. (In recent days, I’ve seen six men do exactly that).

Why? Because we know that the simple action of making ourselves more comfortable would set an instant target on our backs. Not only of being publicly abused and ridiculed, but also the very serious threat of predatory behaviour; sexual harassment and assault. We know that male aggressors would be given greater licence by police to perpetrate these crimes than we would be to bare our breasts.

Moreover, despite federal laws supporting both men and women’s right to public toplessness, local councils impose their own rules. Topless women are often slapped with vague charges such as being a public nuisance, or committing offensive behaviour.

The double standard, when you sit and think about it for even a second, is incensing.

And with 2024 set to be hotter than the year before, perhaps a public protest of angry, topless women is high time.

Who’s in?

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