Latest news with #PayEquityBill
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
'We have massive problems with regulation' - Seymour defends Regulatory Standards Bill
Deputy Prime Minister and ACT Party leader David Seymour has hit back at criticism of his flagship Regulatory Standards Bill, defending the legislation against claims it breaches Treaty of Waitangi principles and contradicts its own standards when compared with the recently passed Pay Equity Bill. In an at-times heated exchange with Guyon Espiner, Seymour stood firm on the need for regulatory reform despite New Zealand's high international rankings in governance and legal standards. Espiner pointed out that New Zealand ranks 99 out of 100 for regulatory quality in the World Bank index, placing it just behind the global benchmark. Seymour dismissed the ranking, arguing it measured whether a country is "basically a third-world country" and failed to capture the real-world frustrations faced by businesses, particularly in agriculture and construction. "You can read all the indices you like, but once you start getting down to talking to the actual people … we have massive problems with regulation," Seymour said, citing delays in approval for lower-emission agricultural chemicals as one. ACT Party leader David Seyour in studio for an interview on season 3 of 30 with Guyon Espiner. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Espiner went on to challenge Seymour on whether the government's recent Pay Equity Bill - pushed through under urgency - violated the principles laid out in the Regulatory Standards Bill itself. These principles include ensuring laws are not retrospective and that proper consultation takes place. Seymour did not deny the lack of consultation or the retrospective nature of the law change - which left 33 current pay equity claimants in the lurch - but argued it was irrelevant. "It was breached because it didn't matter," Seymour said. "All we did was dismantle a Byzantine crazy system… deciding how much the government would pay different workers it was employing anyway." He described the previous equity process as "effectively an internal government activity of arguing with each other" and derided those who had submitted pay appeals under the former system. "They said, 'We work so hard.' I said, 'Really? You think work is arguing with each other?'." The debate turned toward Māori engagement when Espiner pointed out the Waitangi Tribunal's conclusion that the Regulatory Standards Bill, due to a lack of meaningful consultation with Māori, breached the Treaty principles of partnership and active protection. Seymour insisted Māori voices were heard through public consultation. "We had 144 Iwi-based groups who submitted … If that's not enough, then I don't know what is." However, Espiner highlighted that of the 23,000 total submissions, only 76 supported the bill - a support rate of just 0.33 percent. Seymour dismissed the figure as misleading. "That quantum reflects nothing more than the fact that it's got easier and easier for people to make really, frankly, fake submissions … They've got bots, they can make a submission." Despite dismissing the opposing voices as fake, Seymour maintained that what mattered was not the opposition but the quality of the legislative framework, which is non-binding in its nature, thus not enforceable - despite the bill's $20 million price-tag. Seymour argued the Regulatory Standards Bill was about transparency, not enforcement. He compared it to the Public Finance Act and the Reserve Bank Act - also non-binding in nature, but important for government accountability. "There's nothing to stop a minister of finance writing to the governor of the Reserve Bank before an election saying, 'Run the presses, prime the pumps,'" Seymour said. "But it does allow the voters to judge them for doing it… and I want to do the same thing for regulation." Watch the full conversation with David Seymour and Guyon Espiner on 30 With Guyon Espiner . Subscribe to the podcast feed now to get every episode of 30 on your phone when it lands: On Spotify On iHeartRadio On Apple podcasts Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Public Service Work From Home Policies Dispute Heading To Employment Relations Authority
Press Release – PSA Public Service Association Te Pkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, said they were dismayed to have not settled the matter quickly for public sector workers. Confidential mediation today failed to resolve the difference between the PSA and the government on public service work from home policies, and the issue is now heading to the Employment Relations Authority. Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, said they were dismayed to have not settled the matter quickly for public sector workers. 'While we're still open to settling this matter outside of the Authority, the government is digging in its heels on its arbitrary wish to force public servants, who have performed to a high standard for years now while working from home, back into the office. 'Not having working from home as the default disadvantages women, who make up 62 per cent of the public service and who disproportionately hold whanau care responsibilities. 'Working from home is good for women, good for people with chronic health conditions, and good for people with disabilities. It's good for everyone including employers and even the government too.' In 2018, the PSA entered in into an agreement – the Gender Pay Principles, following legal action in the Employment Court to establish principles governing work performed by women in accordance with the Equal Pay Act 1972. The follow up agreement, Flexible Work by Default, gave effect to these principles and was signed by the PSA, CTU, the State Services Commission (as it then was) and the Ministry for Women in 2020. 'The fact of the matter is, the government entered into the Gender Pay Principles and the Flexible Work by Default agreements. 'You can't just rip up these agreements when thousands of people rely on them to maintain their personal and whanau wellbeing. 'But then – we didn't see much care for women when the government also ripped up the Pay Equity Bill last week.' Previous media statements:
Scoop
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Public Service Work From Home Policies Dispute Heading To Employment Relations Authority
Press Release – PSA Public Service Association Te Pkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, said they were dismayed to have not settled the matter quickly for public sector workers. Confidential mediation today failed to resolve the difference between the PSA and the government on public service work from home policies, and the issue is now heading to the Employment Relations Authority. Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, said they were dismayed to have not settled the matter quickly for public sector workers. 'While we're still open to settling this matter outside of the Authority, the government is digging in its heels on its arbitrary wish to force public servants, who have performed to a high standard for years now while working from home, back into the office. 'Not having working from home as the default disadvantages women, who make up 62 per cent of the public service and who disproportionately hold whanau care responsibilities. 'Working from home is good for women, good for people with chronic health conditions, and good for people with disabilities. It's good for everyone including employers and even the government too.' In 2018, the PSA entered in into an agreement – the Gender Pay Principles, following legal action in the Employment Court to establish principles governing work performed by women in accordance with the Equal Pay Act 1972. The follow up agreement, Flexible Work by Default, gave effect to these principles and was signed by the PSA, CTU, the State Services Commission (as it then was) and the Ministry for Women in 2020. 'The fact of the matter is, the government entered into the Gender Pay Principles and the Flexible Work by Default agreements. 'You can't just rip up these agreements when thousands of people rely on them to maintain their personal and whanau wellbeing. 'But then – we didn't see much care for women when the government also ripped up the Pay Equity Bill last week.' Previous media statements:
Scoop
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Public Service Work From Home Policies Dispute Heading To Employment Relations Authority
Confidential mediation today failed to resolve the difference between the PSA and the government on public service work from home policies, and the issue is now heading to the Employment Relations Authority. Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, said they were dismayed to have not settled the matter quickly for public sector workers. "While we're still open to settling this matter outside of the Authority, the government is digging in its heels on its arbitrary wish to force public servants, who have performed to a high standard for years now while working from home, back into the office. "Not having working from home as the default disadvantages women, who make up 62 per cent of the public service and who disproportionately hold whanau care responsibilities. "Working from home is good for women, good for people with chronic health conditions, and good for people with disabilities. It's good for everyone including employers and even the government too." In 2018, the PSA entered in into an agreement - the Gender Pay Principles, following legal action in the Employment Court to establish principles governing work performed by women in accordance with the Equal Pay Act 1972. The follow up agreement, Flexible Work by Default, gave effect to these principles and was signed by the PSA, CTU, the State Services Commission (as it then was) and the Ministry for Women in 2020. "The fact of the matter is, the government entered into the Gender Pay Principles and the Flexible Work by Default agreements. "But then - we didn't see much care for women when the government also ripped up the Pay Equity Bill last week." Previous media statements:
Otago Daily Times
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Lost for words when having to describe a pillock
Sir Ian Taylor discusses rushed legislation, forgotten women and the triumphant return of the word "pillock". I recently finished reading a book called A Dictionary of Lost Words, a moving tale that left me thinking about the stories we lose when certain voices are left out of the conversation. The story centres on Esme, a young girl who spends her childhood beneath the sorting table where the first Oxford English Dictionary is being compiled, quite literally beneath the men deciding which words matter. From her hiding place, she begins collecting discarded words, many of them spoken by women, by workers, by people whose language didn't fit the mould. It's a reminder that history isn't just written by the victors, it is often edited by them as well. So, when I read about the rushed passage of the government's Equal Pay Amendment Bill, I couldn't help but wonder what voices, what words, were they hoping would drop beneath the table. Brooke van Velden, the minister behind the Bill, assures us it's all about empowering women. A noble aim, no question. But her reassurances feel a lot like those of Emmeline Pankhurst, the famous suffragette who also features in A Dictionary of Lost Words. I had always thought that Pankhurst had fought the fight for women to vote in the UK. What I learned was her fight was only for "some" women, not all women. Women who were property-owning, well-spoken and preferably able to prepare a cucumber sandwich without upsetting the tablecloth. Her fight did not include the working-class women of the time. One could argue that Brooke herself fits nicely into Pankhurst's vision of the ideal female citizen: well-paid, well-dressed and well clear of the factory floor, the night shift in aged care, our overstretched hospitals and schools, or our early childhood centres. Her work career appears to have been confined to the closeted halls of public relations for firms like Philip Morris, the multinational tobacco company where she was a "corporate affairs consultant". From there she has stepped into the world of politics where, as part of a minority partner in the coalition government, she enjoys the comfort of a salary of more than $300,000 a year, plus expenses. Not to mention the guaranteed, uncontested, annual pay rises, between now and the next election, of 10%. In the context of The Dictionary of Lost Words, the word "irony" springs to mind. I asked ChatGPT how Esme, the central character of the book, might define the word irony in the context of Minister van Velden's rationale for her actions. This was the response. Esme's Definition of Irony in The Context of the Amendments to the Pay Equity Bill Irony (n) A word that slips between intention and outcome, cloaked in contradiction. A silent smile, often bitter, where justice is spoken but not served. It then went on to add: "Esme might sit with the Oxford Dictionary draft in one hand and the newspaper article in the other, her fingers brushing over the word 'equity' as if to weigh its truth. She would see the irony not simply in the Bill's withdrawal but in who introduced it. A woman in power proposing emergency legislation that would silence the voices of those sitting beneath the table with Esme — women whose work has long gone uncounted: the carers, the cleaners, the teachers, the nurses. Those without names who carry trays, wipe brows, and raise other people's children. Irony is when those who have been voiceless the longest are asked, yet again, to wait their turn." Van Velden, like Pankhurst, seems to be championing women's rights while quietly stepping around the very women most in need of them. At another level, there's a wonderful irony (that word again) in A Dictionary of Lost Words. "Pillock" — this too was a word that fell beneath the table, excluded from the original Oxford Dictionary by the men making the decisions on what words were to be included. Apparently, it was a "woman's word" and, crucially, one used exclusively to describe men. You can probably guess why the learned gentlemen of the time didn't think it worthy of inclusion. Back then, every word submitted for the dictionary had to be written on a small piece of paper called a slip, with an example sentence showing how the word was used in context. I can already picture the slip for this one: Word: Pillock (n) Example in context: On hearing David Seymour make the claim that Brooke van Velden had saved her budget, the Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, was heard to mutter, "what a pillock." I can almost see Esme quietly sliding that one into the submission box with a wry smile. No explanation required. But there is a lot of evidence that supports the case for pillock being used in the context of David Seymour. — Treaty Principles Bill: millions of taxpayer money spent on a Bill everyone knew would fail when it came to Parliament. — School lunch cuts: $3 meals outsourced offshore, delivered late and barely edible. — Charter schools: more millions of taxpayer money spent on administration for just seven schools, one with half a dozen students — learning French. — The tractor stunt: driving a Land Rover up Parliament's steps, ignoring the advice of security guards that it was an offence. All this while frontline workers like nurses, early childhood teachers, cleaners and caregivers, the very people historically undervalued and underpaid, are left out of the room, out of the process and out of the promise of change. They deserve to be heard. Amendments to a Bill meant to fix a history of undervaluing women's work is being pushed through in a way that continues to undervalue women's voices. Esme would be shaking her head. The fight for equity isn't just about ticking boxes. It's about understanding context, listening deeply and recognising the value of every contribution, not just the ones made from a seat in Parliament or a leather chair in a boardroom. We have a chance here in Aotearoa to show what real leadership looks like. But leadership doesn't mean charging ahead with blinkers on. It means slowing down long enough to make sure everyone's with you, all voices are heard, especially those that are under the table. Otherwise, we may one day find ourselves leafing through a future Dictionary of Lost Bills wondering how we managed to lose the meaning of "equity" and how the word pillock made such a triumphant comeback. I was left wondering what alternatives might be used in place of pillock. There are a number — idiot, fool, simpleton, dunce — but a new one will be added to the list on May 31. Deputy Prime Minister. — Sir Ian Taylor is founder and managing director of Dunedin company Animation Research.
