We know the Liberals think the solution to housing affordability is to get rich parents.
Now it seems they think the answer to financial security is to get a rich husband.
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Cashed up
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash was lost for words when facing a frustrated Neil Mitchell on Thursday morning.
Last week, Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals told the Fair Work Commission that the minimum wage should be frozen.
They said that "in general, low paid workers are more likely to be young, female and single" but that "low paid employees are often found in high income households". (That's despite the Minister for Employment and for Women, Michaelia Cash, not being able to tell us how many low paid workers actually lived in high income families).
![A woman's wage shouldn't depend on what her family earns, or what her partner earns.](/web/20170407183332im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/k/9/1/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gve3xg.png/1491384242542.jpg)
I want to be really clear about exactly what the government is arguing here.
They're saying that low paid employees don't deserve a pay rise because some of them have partners earning higher incomes than they do.
As if my wage, or any woman's wage, should depend on what her family earns, or what her partner earns.
That if a woman's partner earns more that her, it's alright to freeze her wage.
It's a throwback to medieval days, when whole families were indentured to the one lord and women, in particular, would work for nothing.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Women like to proclaim their commitment to women's economic empowerment.
But it's what you do, not what you say, that actually matters.
This is a government that fights for cuts to penalty rates which disproportionately impact women. Women are more likely to work part time, more likely to work under an award, and are more likely to work in the industries affected by penalty rate cuts.
This is a government that fights to freeze the minimum wage, because some workers have partners who earn more than they do.
You don't get to say you support women's empowerment if you don't support their financial security and independence.
Financial security and independence is a foundation of gender equality.
Women shouldn't have to rely on an allowance from a partner that happens to be paid more.
A lack of financial security and independence is the reason that many women struggle to leave abusive relationships.
Part of the reason women often earn less than their male partners is because there is still a 16 per cent gender pay gap in Australia. The gender pay gap has not improved for over two decades now.
Women make up about 60 per cent of low income earners in Australia.
As long as the Liberals argue that it's just fine for women to have their pay frozen while their partners earn more than them, we'll never achieve pay equity.
Tanya Plibersek is Deputy Leader of the Opposition.