Ms Moira Leydon:

The Senator has asked a very good question and all of us want to come in and give our linsights. I am conscious that the Chair is under pressure of time. I want to mention two things that are slightly off the point but are important. For me, the two are the climate activist and the farmer. When we think of a farmer, we think of a good old practical fellow or woman, increasingly - I am thinking of the new leader of the Social Democrats. We do not think of somebody who is enculturated in a science education. When we think of a climate activist, we think of somebody who is politically active. The fundamentals of farming and climate change are deeply scientific. I think there is a kind of culture change around the way we talk about STEM as if it is something out there and not integrated with our lives.

It is really important for this committee and the national report on the implementation plan to focus on gender uptake. At our peril we would omit to look at ethnic and socioeconomic uptake. These are very profound structural and systemic sources of inequality in society. I would be concerned that our policy is exclusively framed on gender. We need to remember we have those other two categories which also need to be looked at.