Journal article
More choice for women? A discursive formation of the Howard government's tax and transfer reforms
Australian journal of political science, Vol.60(1), pp.113-129
02/01/2025
Appears in Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Abstract
When former Prime Minister John Howard introduced the new tax system, he declared it would enable 'more choice for women'. Yet the reform, grounded in the regressive integration of the tax and transfer systems, financially penalised mothers who wished to return to work and reinforced women's roles as primary carers within the setting of the home and family. In this paper, we use a methodology based on Foucault's theory of discursive formation to analyse Howard's speeches prior to enacting A New Tax System to explore how Australian women's roles were shaped in this reform. We found Howard constructed a values-based discourse that discursively framed women, not as individuals but as indistinguishable from the family, and actively limited women's choices. More than a quarter of a century later, this reform continues to disadvantage women and act as a disincentive to work, underscoring the importance of historical discourse in shaping contemporary policy.
Details
- Title
- More choice for women? A discursive formation of the Howard government's tax and transfer reforms
- Creators
- Amanda Williams - Southern Cross UniversityVanessa Rose - Monash University
- Publication Details
- Australian journal of political science, Vol.60(1), pp.113-129
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Number of pages
- 17
- Identifiers
- 991013372737002368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Education
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article