<iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-K3L4M3" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden">

Flat White

Labor cannot define ‘women’, but it’s offering them tax cuts

5 February 2024

1:00 AM

5 February 2024

1:00 AM

When Labor’s Minister for Finance and Women, Katy Gallagher, alerted us to her intention to give women tax cuts, my first thought was – which women?

Actual women, or blokes that identify as women?

It’s an important question because Labor isn’t keen on defining women and yet somehow finds a way to make ‘women’ promises pertaining to their gender.

A cynical mind may divine that Federal Labor is trying to mop up State Labor’s assorted gender diverse policies. These include a rise in ‘self-ID’, upsetting women by allowing men to violate protected spaces, shoving them off sporting podiums, and leaving them wary of public bathrooms.

Federal Labor has always been careful to walk-the-woman path – with Albanese sticking to biology in the lead-up to the election, much to the annoyance of activist groups. No doubt that’s because Federal Labor has no need to wade into the gender debate while its State governments (and a helpful Liberal ally in Tasmania), do all the controversial work for them.

It does not matter if the Minister for Women paints herself as a valiant warrior, a position which she seems to take seriously, because Australian women are suffering under the decisions of State Labor. The Federal Minister can offer all the tax cuts she likes but it’s not going to stop blokes from wandering through women’s bathrooms.

Given how upset biological women are with Labor, it’s no surprise that the Albanese government’s response has been to throw cash at them. Well, throw back the cash that was already theirs. Tax cuts do not represent a generous government showering money – it’s more like following a thief along the sidewalk after a mugging, picking up whatever is left of your possessions.

‘Women work hard across our economy, and we want to ensure that they keep more of their hard-earned money and find it easier to pick up more hours if they want to,’ said Gallagher’s tweet.

Does this mean Labor is going to cancel their horrifying legislation that threatens to destroy the self-employed, casual, and part-time work – work that is disproportionately used by women clawing their way back into the workforce after having kids?

No. Labor’s first priority is always to the union movement.

‘Tax cuts that are: better for women; bigger for women; fairer for women.’

Oh, so Labor is finally going to ditch the expensive Renewable energy disaster and stop terrorising women in regional areas with threats of towering power lines and paddocks full of wind turbines?


No. Men pay the power bills, apparently. Besides, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has the Greens breathing down his neck.

‘The Albanese Labor government is delivering a tax cut for every Australian woman taxpayer commencing on July 1.’

I guess that’s bad news for those who marked the they/them checkbox on their birth certificate. What is Labor’s position on women who now identify as men? Do they receive the tax cut too?

‘Women work hard across our economy, and we want to ensure that they keep more of their hard-earned money to meet the daily challenges and cost of living pressures that they face.’

As a woman, I find the pandering nature of this press release nauseating. Labor is not the political party guilty of this. The Liberals did it too. There shouldn’t be a Minister for Women while there is no Minister for Men. I’d settle for a Minister Who Cuts Tax… Here’s a hint, if you want to treat women as ‘equals’ – which is what the Minister for Women mopes on about – create tax cuts for people, not body parts, but let’s continue…

Labor is offering a tax cut for all women who pay tax in Australia.

It goes on. Labor will give a bigger tax cut for 90 per cent of Australian women taxpayers, who will receive an additional tax cut of $707, on average, compared to Morrison’s plan, or so says the promo.

It also promises a boost of 630,000 additional hours per week worked by women.

Even the least observant casual reader will realise that the last promise is bogus, so we shall disregard it.

‘Under Labor’s plan, childcare workers, disability carers, and aged care workers are some of the most likely to benefit with more than 95 per cent of those taxpayers to receive a bigger tax cut compared to Scott Morrison’s plan.’

Hold on a moment. Those jobs aren’t exactly ‘women-only’ professions. However, they are jobs that require you to be part of a union. Strange. Probably a coincidence.

Then Labor finally offers a list of occupations receiving a tax cut.

Child carers, receptionists, registered nurses, general clerks, office managers, primary school teachers, aged care and disabled carers, accounting clerks, nursing support and personal care workers, waiters, checkout operators and office cashiers, contract and project administrators, welfare support workers, sales assistants, call centre and customer service managers, secondary school teachers, commercial cleaners, retail managers, accountants, [by the way, we’re down below professions that employ under 50 per cent women], sales representatives, advertising, public relations, sales managers, general managers, chief executives [only 28 per cent women], chefs, storepersons, software applications and programmers [20 per cent women], miscellaneous labourers, truck drivers, motor mechanics [1 per cent women], and electricians.

So… not a tax cut for women.

It’s a series of tax cuts for some professions that the Labor Party thinks they can get political mileage out of – at least half of the recipients being men. Some of those professions listed in Labor’s ‘women’ tax cut involve professions where women represent 1 per cent of workers. In other words, these are 99 per cent male-dominated professions for a women’s tax cut marketing pitch.

I guess the poor sod putting together the list was trying to grapple with the social justice logic about whether or not it was sexist to leave ‘electrician’ and ‘motor mechanic’ off the list.

Whatever this is, it’s not a tax cut ‘for women’.

No one in the Treasury is flipping through birth certificates and assigning cuts.

At best, it’s a disingenuous marketing pitch trying to appease angry women without doing anything meaningful. It certainly doesn’t fix the cost of living crisis manufactured by successive governments, nor does it fix the cultural and societal breakdown triggered by mass migration which has sent our crime rate – particularly sexual assault, theft, and murder – through the roof.

Women are disproportionately the victims of Labor’s ‘Big Australia’ vote-buying exercise.

Women are the ones who feel intimidated by having their cities wrapped in trans bunting for a whole month, reminding them that their spaces and sports are no longer safe.

Women don’t want condescending press releases, they want a return to sanity. And that is something Labor isn’t offering.

And I’m guessing men aren’t particularly pleased about it either after years of toxic masculinity rhetoric.

There is nothing wrong with offering tax cuts. Labor should be cutting tax because it has been far too high for far too long, for everyone, regardless of the bits they keep in their pants.

The problem is this government’s endless hypocrisy and dangerous politics tearing this country apart in record time. These tax cuts are meant to act as blindfolds. Be thankful for the scraps we give you, and don’t look at the mess.

Most women (and men) are so desperate that they will fall for it. They will thank the Minister for Women for the shiny loose change trickling out of the Treasury.

Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.


Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator Australia readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Close