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Newsroom
a day ago
- Politics
- Newsroom
‘Turning women's wages into a political piggy bank'
It's a short walk from Parliament to the National Library – barely two minutes – but the journey comes with several reminders of the history of women's rights in New Zealand. Navigate a pedestrian crossing with a signal in the shape of famous suffragist Kate Sheppard, and you're greeted with a sign for the library's exhibition on the 1893 petition (spearheaded by Sheppard) that helped secure Kiwi women the right to vote. Little wonder then that the venue was chosen for the opening day of the People's Select Committee on Pay Equity. Made up of 10 female ex-MPs from four different parties, the group has come together to scrutinise the pay-equity changes rushed through under urgency by the coalition without any public input. As former Labour minister Nanaia Mahuta put it as she opened proceedings: 'We are here to do what the Government did not.' Perhaps wary of the wrath generated by the controversial changes, Mahuta asked submitters to refrain from making comments that 'may be defamatory of any individual'. She and the committee didn't need to worry, at least for the first day, with a surprisingly good-humoured mood among those gathered. Hugs, kisses and selfies were in plentiful supply as the (overwhelmingly female) crowd filtered into the room, while there were light moments throughout: 'These days, I pretend I'm retired,' former National MP and feminist scholar Marilyn Waring quipped as she introduced herself. Yet the subject at hand was undeniably heavy, with submitters expressing frustration at both the secretive and hasty nature of the Government's reforms and the real-world consequences for women being paid unfairly low wages. 'What was once a relatively straightforward, albeit occasionally lengthy road is now one filled with various potholes and roadblocks. The Government continues to insist it's a road, but it's not one that anyone can travel along anymore,' NZ Council of Trade Unions national secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges said. Ansell-Bridges said moving the threshold for claims from arguability to merit meant some would never get started – not because they lacked merit, but because the requirements could not be met unless the process was already underway, creating a Catch-22 situation. A workable and sustainable alternative to the existing pay-equity regime would have been celebrated by the Government, she said, the subject of public consultation and a full parliamentary process rather than rammed through overnight with no advance warning. 'It speaks to the shame felt by this Government, whose job it is to look after the interests of all New Zealanders, as they strip away half our population's access to the fundamental rights.' The financial cost of the changes goes beyond hypothetical foregone income in the future, too. Aged Care Association chief executive and former New Zealand First MP Tracey Martin said the sector had spent close to $500,000 in the last year gathering information for a care and support workers' pay equity claim, with much of the work done at the Government's request – even as it was working in secret to overhaul the regime. 'We invested significant time and resources only to find those efforts wasted – this breach of good faith will take some time and genuine effort on behalf of governments to repair,' Martin said. She painstakingly laid out the complex range of duties carried out by aged-care workers: clinical support and medical assistance, the administration of medication, nutritional care, using de-escalation techniques to manage agitation, providing companionship, and maintaining 'warmth and patience' even in challenging moments, to name just a few. 'It is complex, skilled, and physically and emotionally demanding work that requires ongoing training, professional resilience and unwavering commitment to quality of life for some of New Zealand's most vulnerable citizens … 'If you listen to the jobs that they do, the skills that they have, you could immediately go out yourself and find a male-dominated sector that is required to have the same skills and that could not be employed at the price that we are currently paying our carers – but we cannot do it if the Government washes its hands of its responsibilities.' Former Governor-General and High Court judge Dame Silvia Cartwright provided a legal view of the Government's changes, noting the retrospective nature of shutting down claims already underway went against principles of good law-making and could damage New Zealand's international reputation. Cartwright predicted 'significant amounts of litigation' related to the new law, while noting a number of appeal rights had been narrowed by the changes. 'I think that the courts, if they can get a case before them after getting through all the very many barriers, will do their best to make things fairer, but it's going to be very difficult.' Tony McCombs, the great-grandson of New Zealand's first woman MP Elizabeth McCombs. Photo: Sam Sachdeva Somewhat ironically, the loudest applause of the day went to one of the few men in the audience. Tony McCombs, the great-grandson of New Zealand's first woman MP Elizabeth McCombs, offered a scathing criticism of the Government as he reflected on his ancestor's legacy. 'In her maiden speech way back in 1933 she said, 'I wish to work for the women and children of this country, and I hope to see the day when women will receive equal pay for equal work' … 'If Elizabeth McCombs were here, she would rise with righteous rage and ask, 'How dare you? How dare you erase progress with the stroke of a pen? How dare you undo a century of struggle in a single vote? How dare you silence the voices of working women and call it reform?'' McCombs said he wanted his own daughter (also named Elizabeth, and working as an early childhood teacher) and granddaughters to live in a country where they were treated fairly and equally, 'not fighting the same battles over and over again'. 'These changes are not about fairness. They are not about sustainability. They are about saving money at the expense of those already underpaid, turning women's wages into a political piggy bank.' With the committee's hearings continuing until October, and over 1500 submissions received, such expressions of anger will hardly be unique – but will they change anything? Asked about the hearings on Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon indicated he had no regrets about the Government's decision, and no intention of reversing the changes. 'Look, I mean, I think we have canvassed this area at the time when we first talked about it, which is that we fundamentally feel the system got too broad, too loose, and, frankly, unworkable.' Asked by Newsroom what she hoped would come of the committee's work, Mahuta was non-committal. 'I think the Government's already reflecting on a process that has fallen short of keeping faith with women in the workforce – women who are doing very, very valuable work as teachers, as carers under some of the hardest conditions. 'So if they're not already reflecting on the process and what they might do, we're certainly listening to the people.' Barring a change of government at next year's election – and a change in law following it – providing the public with a sense of comfort in being heard may be all the group can hope for.
RNZ News
25-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Historic Christchurch theatre to be sold by council
The council has spent about $8m on the site so far. Photo: Supplied The historic Odeon Theatre in Christchurch is to be sold by the Canterbury Regional Council, which purchased the quake-damaged building in 2020. The council bought the Category One Historic Places building, along with the neighbouring Lawrie & Wilson Auctioneers building and several other nearby parcels of land. At today's council meeting, councillor Nick Ward said about $8 million had been spent on the site, including the purchase price, maintenance costs and the cost to stabilise the earthquake-damaged frontage of the theatre. The Odeon Theatre is the oldest masonry theatre in New Zealand having been built in 1883 and is a Historic Places Category 1 building. One of the most notable uses was for the public meetings held in 1893 when Kate Sheppard led the campaign for women's suffrage from Christchurch. The building is currently partly-demolished, and propped up. The Lawrie and Wilson's building is a Historic Place Category 2 building, built in 1910. That building has now been restored and is being rented out as a office space. The buildings and land neighbour the Canterbury Regional Council headquarters. Inside the Odeon Theatre. Photo: Supplied When the council purchased the buildings, it said it wanted to enable flexibility for future developments, preserve historically significant buildings and control developments around its headquarters. The council staff report said in 2023 the council put the site out to tender for a long-term lease, but was unsuccessful. The report said holding on to the land parcels would have ongoing costs, including interest on borrowing, rates and about $350-400,000 a year in maintenance. It noted that the development of CBD commercial land was not the council's core business. The report recommended the council sell the sites, but also presented options to hold on to the sites, or lease them out for development. At today's council meeting the council voted to sell the sites, with the proposal supported by 15 of the 16 regional councillors. Councillor Joe Davies - who was the only councillor to vote against the proposal - said he thought the central city land was strategic, and the council should keep hold of it. Councillor Ward said he had a love of old buildings, but a commercial decision needed to be made. "I know what it has cost us to date, and it is around $8 million. So the sooner we can move on and sell the Odeon and square up the parcel of land next to it, the better for all of us. It's not our core business. Sometimes the first loss is the best loss and you just have to move on." The council report said an external report had confirmed that the likelihood of the Odeon having its heritage protection removed, allowing its demolition, was very low. The council voted 15-1 to sell the parcel of land. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
