Speeches

Wednesday, 08 March 2023

International Women's Day Breakfast

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It’s Rod’s and my pleasure to welcome you to our second International Women’s Day Breakfast at Government House.

I trust you will enjoy our time together and have some interesting conversations.

As Governor, gender equity is one of my priorities and, during the past 18 months, it has been my pleasure to work with a number of you as we seek to achieve this goal.

Today’s breakfast is about women coming together in solidarity – to share stories and experiences, to learn from an outstanding speaker, Sam Mostyn, and to inspire one another.

It’s also about offering each other and all women practical support today and every day.

As is often the case, when we look back at the past year, progress has been made and yet more is needed.

The theme of International Women’s Day this year is ‘Embrace Equity’.

This acknowledges that equal opportunity is not enough to achieve gender equality.

People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

I encourage us all to create opportunities for women wherever we can, and also engage men in support of gender equality.

When we take determined action in our personal and professional environments, we can, especially when we join together, create bigger change.

I’ll be back shortly to introduce Sam Mostyn.