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1News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- 1News
Hipkins admits question that led to Parliament C-bomb a 'mistake'
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says it was a "mistake" for the party to quote from a controversial opinion column, that used the C-word. He says it has now become a "distraction" from the Government's pay equity changes. MP Jan Tinetti quoted a line, which did not include the C-word, from the controversial Sunday Star-Times article, while she asked a question in Parliament yesterday. The use of the column prompted a ferocious response from the Government benches, with Minister Brooke Van Velden describing the column itself as "clearly misogynistic". Tinetti stood by her decision to quote from the column yesterday, with the question having gone through Labour's usual processes for receiving sign off. But Hipkins changed tack today, saying it had become a "distraction" from the issue of the Government's pay equity changes, which affected hundreds of thousands of women. "I think we need to get back to that issue now, rather than the other things, in so far our quoting from a rather controversial comment yesterday meant that the Labour Party was contributing to the distractions around that. I think we will own that," Hipkins said. "It would have been better if we had quoted from something else, rather than from that particular column. I'll leave it up to the newspaper itself to defend the particular column. "I think us quoting from it contributed to a distraction that took the issue away from where it needs to be, which is the plight of low-paid women who are simply asking to be paid fairly." Parliamentary debate hears outrage after a columnist used the c-word in an article about the Government ministers. (Source: 1News) Tinetti's question yesterday was: 'Does she agree with Andrea Vance, who said about the Equal Pay Amendment Bill, "It is a curious feminist moment, isn't it? Six girlbosses—Willis, her hype-squad Judith Collins, Erica Stanford, Louise Upston, Nicola Grigg, and Brooke van Velden—all united in a historic act of economic backhanding other women"." Later, Van Velden used the C-word herself when slamming the column. "I do not agree with the clearly gendered and patronising language that Andrea Vance used to reduce senior Cabinet ministers to girl bosses, hype squads, references to girl math and c****s," she said in Parliament in response to Tinetti's question. "I actually think it's very curious — and it's a very curious feminist moment — when a former minister for women repeats parts of a clearly misogynistic article in this House." Brooke van Velden became the first MP to use the word in the House of Representatives as she quoted a Sunday Star-Times article. (Source: 1News) Asked why Labour had shifted its position on the question's appropriateness, Hipkins said: "This has now become a big distraction that's taking away from what is a very fair issue. "We made a mistake there. I think when people who are affected by this see politicians fighting with each other and making it all about themselves, as we've seen in the last 24 hours, I think they'll feel somewhat despondent and dejected. Labour MP Willie Jackson ejected as the culture clashes continue in the House. (Source: 1News) "We should get back to talking about the issues that affect them." Tinetti told 1News yesterday the focus of her question to van Velden was to highlight that "women were taking pay away from women", adding that she deliberately chose a quote from the column that was not misogynistic. Labour has been hammering the Government over its pay equity changes in the past week, which were passed under urgency and raised the threshold to make a claim. Managing director of Stuff Masthead Publishing, Joanna Norris, said in a statement that the column and the C-word were "carefully" considered as part of "robust" debate around the pay equity legislation. "Stuff has published a spectrum of commentary on the pay equity issue, including a reply to the column this week from the Minister of Finance. 'The issue of sex based discrimination, and the Government's changes to pay equity legislation under urgency, have caused robust debate on all sides. "This is not the first time our editors have allowed the use of this word — it is carefully reviewed by experienced editors and, on this occasion, it was decided it was acceptable usage in the context of this column." Norris said Vance, and her editor Tracy Watkins, "have received both strong support for — and criticism of — the column's views and the manner in which they were expressed".
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Labour Defends Raising Column As C-word Debate Spirals
Article – RNZ Meanwhile, Labour has rejected the idea that it was a poor political judgment to reference a column using the word in Parliament. Debate over use of the c-word is distracting attention from the main issue of pay equity changes, a law lecturer says. Canterbury University senior law lecturer Cassandra Mudgway who has researched the issue of abuse of female politicians was commenting on the furore that has erupted over its use by both a Sunday-Star Times journalist and Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden. She believes journalist Andrea Vance was justified in using it to provoke a reaction to her article on pay equity changes. Meanwhile, Labour has rejected the idea that it was a poor political judgment to reference a column using the c-word in connection to female ministers overhauling the pay equity scheme in Parliament. Labour's Jan Tinetti asked the Minister responsible a question about the piece during Parliament's Question Time on Wednesday, to which Brooke Van Velden dropped the c-bomb in protest over the slur being used. Van Velden has defended the use of the word, blaming Labour for introducing the column in the first place. 'I think it's really important that I shone a light on the misogyny that Labour actually did bring into the House. 'They brought it here, I responded.' But Tinetti rejected that, and said there was nothing in the quote she referenced in her question that brought misogyny into the house. 'I deliberately went through that to find the quote that would mention the economic backhander.' It was pointed out to Tinetti that the column in question used the c-word, 'that c-word I would never use,' she said. 'That doesn't mean to say that people's emotions aren't riled by the fact there's been choices made here with the budget, and future pay cuts have been made to women. 'This has got people very uptight and very angry, and emotions have risen.' She rejected the notion Labour had used poor political judgment by referencing the column, and said the party was having a discussion around misogyny, as well as women taking money off other women in 'future pay cuts.' Mudgway told Morning Report the use of the c-word by Vance in her article was 'a political choice to use uncivil language' to express her frustration over changes to pay equity. The 'down side' was that it had now led to debate about who could use it which was distracting from the main issue. 'I think focusing on the journalist's choice of words risks obscuring that bigger picture – the fact that thousands of women in historically undervalued jobs just have had their path of pay equity made longer and harder. That's also misogynist harm and we should also be concerned with that.' Online misogyny against women MPs was already widespread and it was pointless to focus on just one article, she said. As part of violence, harassment and abuse the c-word was often directed at women, she said. The coalition has criticised Labour for not calling out the column itself, with Finance Minister Nicola Willis taking aim at Labour leader Chris Hipkins directly for his past position of believing men should speak out against gendered abuse. Hipkins said newspapers make editorial judgments about what they are and aren't willing to publish, 'and that's a question for the editors and the people writing that material.' 'Given the opportunity to make that exact statement, he did not; instead, he suddenly discovered free speech, and my view is that actually the standard you walk past is the standard you accept,' Willis said. 'A lot of sympathy' for van Velden The chair of Parliament's Privilieges Committee Judith Collins said there was free speech in Parliament and she did not believe the Speaker would take any action to discipline van Velden because 'he didn't make any comment on the day'. 'But I can understand how Brooke van Velden felt. It's all very well for print media to essentially use that word against women like herself and myself and our colleagues and so many people have said how it made them feel. 'It was used in anger. It was a disgraceful piece of so-called journalism and I understand how Brooke felt so there's a lot of sympathy I think for the way that she has had to take the brunt of this matter.' NZ First MP Shane Jones said it had been the 'most extraordinary day of language in the House' and discussion carried over into General Debate later in the afternoon. Chris Bishop said the c-word had been 'thrown around a bit' in the last week. 'I want to read out some c-words that I think apply to the Labour opposition: callous, cruel and cowardly.' He also said the 'double standards' and 'misleading statements' put out by the Labour Party over the last week were 'cruel.' 'Because this debate all started because of the actions the government took when it comes to equal pay, and we have heard all sorts of nonsense from the Opposition.' Hipkins took aim at Bishop too, for 'jumping on his high horse', and saying Labour needed to do better. 'I can only say I hope he didn't injure himself as he fell off his high horse when it was flying at breakneck speed in the wrong direction. 'Because at the same time he was saying we needed to do better, his own party was posting artificial intelligence-generated images of me when he was saying that we needed to 'raise the tone' of the debate.'
Otago Daily Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Hipkins takes responsibility for C-word question in u-turn
In a belated u-turn Labour's Chris Hipkins has taken responsibility for one of his MP's using Question Time to quote a newspaper column that called female ministers the c-word. The party leader fronted reporters at Parliament on Thursday - a media appearance usually filled by his deputy Carmel Sepuloni - to take the rap for Labour MP and former minister for women, Jan Tinetti. Parliament descended into chaos on Wednesday after Tinetti put a question on notice to Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden - one of the ministers the c-word had been directed at - that quoted from the controversial Sunday Star-Times column. It prompted a fiery response from van Velden, who denounced the use of the word, criticised Tinetti for not condemning the language used, and accused the journalist who wrote the piece of misogyny. Hipkins had this week refused to condemn the c-word being used in the column, and on Wednesday following Question Time Tinetti stood by her question line in the House. But on Thursday Hipkins u-turned, saying the issue had become a distraction from the "plight of low-paid women who are simply asking to be paid fairly". "In so far as our quoting from a rather controversial comment piece yesterday meant the Labour Party was contributing to the distractions around that, I think we will own that. "It would have been better if we had quoted from something else rather than that particular column," he said. "The government desperately wants to move the debate away from pay equity, I think we did play into their hands in that regard a little bit yesterday, I think that was unfortunate." Asked whether he was aware the question was going to be asked by Tinetti, he did not directly answer. "We've got a process for signing off questions, it went all the way through that process, we collectively own that, so as leader of the Labour Party I'll own that." Pushed on whether he personally approved it, he said "as the leader of the Labour Party I'll accept responsibility for it". On Thursday in Question Time Speaker Gerry Brownlee told the House he should never have allowed Tinetti's question to be heard. "Although I note no party raised issues with the question during the pre-publication period. "It was reasonable then to reach the assumption that the House had accepted the content of the question, as the House is, of course, the architect of its own procedure," he said. And on the matter of van Velden using the c-word in her answer to Tinetti, Brownlee said he should not have "allowed the word used in response to the question to go unchecked". "The member concerned may wish to think about a belated action to uphold the dignity of the House." Hipkins said he had changed his position on the appropriateness of the column because of the distraction it was causing, which was "taking away from what is a very fair issue". "I think we made a mistake there, and when people affected by this see politicians fighting with each other and making it all about themselves, as we've seen in the last 24 hours, I think they'll feel somewhat despondent and dejected. "We should get back to talking about the issues that affect them." Hipkins said part of the reason he did not condemn the use of the c-word against female ministers was to avoid that aspect of the pay equity debate becoming the focus. "I'm not going to appoint myself judge, jury, and executioner on things that people write in newspaper columns." He acknowledged the language in the column was not words he would use. Initial response Labour initially rejected the idea that it was a poor political judgment to reference a column using the c-word. The controversial legislation, passed under urgency last week, raises the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued when making a pay equity claim. The law is retrospective, cancelling 33 current claims affecting 150,000 female workers which would have to be restarted. Workplace Minister Brooke van Velden last week said the changes would save the Crown money. Opponents say it will make it harder for women in female dominated industries to make a claim. Van Velden has defended the use of the word, blaming Labour for introducing the column in the first place. "I think it's really important that I shone a light on the misogyny that Labour actually did bring into the House. They brought it here, I responded." But Tinetti rejected that, saying there was nothing in the quote she referenced in her question that brought misogyny into the House. "I deliberately went through that to find the quote that would mention the economic backhander." It was pointed out to Tinetti that the column in question used the c-word, "that c-word I would never use," she said. "That doesn't mean to say that people's emotions aren't riled by the fact there's been choices made here with the Budget, and future pay cuts have been made to women. "This has got people very uptight and very angry, and emotions have risen." She rejected the notion Labour had used poor political judgment by referencing the column, and said the party was having a discussion around misogyny, as well as women taking money off other women in "future pay cuts." The coalition has criticised Labour for not calling out the column itself, with Finance Minister Nicola Willis taking aim at party leader Chris Hipkins directly for his past position of believing men should speak out against gendered abuse. Hipkins said newspapers make editorial judgments about what they are and aren't willing to publish, "and that's a question for the editors and the people writing that material". "Given the opportunity to make that exact statement, he did not; instead, he suddenly discovered free speech, and my view is that actually the standard you walk past is the standard you accept," Willis said. NZ First MP Shane Jones said it had been the "most extraordinary day of language in the House" and discussion carried over into General Debate later in the afternoon. Chris Bishop said the c-word had been "thrown around a bit" in the last week. "I want to read out some c-words that I think apply to the Labour opposition: callous, cruel and cowardly." He also said the "double standards" and "misleading statements" put out by the Labour Party over the last week were "cruel". "Because this debate all started because of the actions the government took when it comes to equal pay, and we have heard all sorts of nonsense from the Opposition." Hipkins took aim at Bishop too for "jumping on his high horse" and saying Labour needed to do better. "I can only say I hope he didn't injure himself as he fell off his high horse when it was flying at breakneck speed in the wrong direction. "Because at the same time he was saying we needed to do better, his own party was posting artificial intelligence-generated images of me when he was saying that we needed to 'raise the tone' of the debate." Distracting from main issue: lecturer Debate over use of the c-word is distracting attention from the main issue of pay equity changes, a Canterbury University academic says. Senior law lecturer Cassandra Mudgway has researched the issue of abuse of female politicians and was commenting on the furore that has erupted over its use by Sunday-Star Times journalist Andrea Vance and van Velden. She believes Vance was justified in using it to provoke a reaction to her column on pay equity changes. Mudgway told Morning Report the use of the c-word in the article was "a political choice to use uncivil language" to express her frustration over changes to pay equity. The "down side" was that it had now led to debate about who could use it - which was distracting from the main issue. "I think focusing on the journalist's choice of words risks obscuring that bigger picture - the fact that thousands of women in historically undervalued jobs just have had their path of pay equity made longer and harder. That's also misogynist harm and we should also be concerned with that." Online misogyny against women MPs was already widespread and it was pointless to focus on just one article, she said. As part of violence, harassment and abuse the c-word was often directed at women, she said.
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Labour Defends Raising Column As C-word Debate Spirals
Debate over use of the c-word is distracting attention from the main issue of pay equity changes, a law lecturer says. Canterbury University senior law lecturer Cassandra Mudgway who has researched the issue of abuse of female politicians was commenting on the furore that has erupted over its use by both a Sunday-Star Times journalist and Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden. She believes journalist Andrea Vance was justified in using it to provoke a reaction to her article on pay equity changes. Meanwhile, Labour has rejected the idea that it was a poor political judgment to reference a column using the c-word in connection to female ministers overhauling the pay equity scheme in Parliament. Labour's Jan Tinetti asked the Minister responsible a question about the piece during Parliament's Question Time on Wednesday, to which Brooke Van Velden dropped the c-bomb in protest over the slur being used. Van Velden has defended the use of the word, blaming Labour for introducing the column in the first place. "I think it's really important that I shone a light on the misogyny that Labour actually did bring into the House. "They brought it here, I responded." But Tinetti rejected that, and said there was nothing in the quote she referenced in her question that brought misogyny into the house. "I deliberately went through that to find the quote that would mention the economic backhander." It was pointed out to Tinetti that the column in question used the c-word, "that c-word I would never use," she said. "That doesn't mean to say that people's emotions aren't riled by the fact there's been choices made here with the budget, and future pay cuts have been made to women. "This has got people very uptight and very angry, and emotions have risen." She rejected the notion Labour had used poor political judgment by referencing the column, and said the party was having a discussion around misogyny, as well as women taking money off other women in "future pay cuts." Mudgway told Morning Report the use of the c-word by Vance in her article was "a political choice to use uncivil language" to express her frustration over changes to pay equity. The "down side" was that it had now led to debate about who could use it which was distracting from the main issue. "I think focusing on the journalist's choice of words risks obscuring that bigger picture - the fact that thousands of women in historically undervalued jobs just have had their path of pay equity made longer and harder. That's also misogynist harm and we should also be concerned with that." Online misogyny against women MPs was already widespread and it was pointless to focus on just one article, she said. As part of violence, harassment and abuse the c-word was often directed at women, she said. The coalition has criticised Labour for not calling out the column itself, with Finance Minister Nicola Willis taking aim at Labour leader Chris Hipkins directly for his past position of believing men should speak out against gendered abuse. Hipkins said newspapers make editorial judgments about what they are and aren't willing to publish, "and that's a question for the editors and the people writing that material." "Given the opportunity to make that exact statement, he did not; instead, he suddenly discovered free speech, and my view is that actually the standard you walk past is the standard you accept," Willis said. 'A lot of sympathy' for van Velden The chair of Parliament's Privilieges Committee Judith Collins said there was free speech in Parliament and she did not believe the Speaker would take any action to discipline van Velden because "he didn't make any comment on the day". "But I can understand how Brooke van Velden felt. It's all very well for print media to essentially use that word against women like herself and myself and our colleagues and so many people have said how it made them feel. "It was used in anger. It was a disgraceful piece of so-called journalism and I understand how Brooke felt so there's a lot of sympathy I think for the way that she has had to take the brunt of this matter." NZ First MP Shane Jones said it had been the "most extraordinary day of language in the House" and discussion carried over into General Debate later in the afternoon. Chris Bishop said the c-word had been "thrown around a bit" in the last week. "I want to read out some c-words that I think apply to the Labour opposition: callous, cruel and cowardly." He also said the "double standards" and "misleading statements" put out by the Labour Party over the last week were "cruel." "Because this debate all started because of the actions the government took when it comes to equal pay, and we have heard all sorts of nonsense from the Opposition." Hipkins took aim at Bishop too, for "jumping on his high horse", and saying Labour needed to do better. "I can only say I hope he didn't injure himself as he fell off his high horse when it was flying at breakneck speed in the wrong direction. "Because at the same time he was saying we needed to do better, his own party was posting artificial intelligence-generated images of me when he was saying that we needed to 'raise the tone' of the debate."
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Labour defends raising c-word column in House
Labour has rejected the idea that it was a poor political judgment to reference a column using the c-word in connection to female ministers overhauling the pay equity scheme in Parliament. The controversial legislation, passed under urgency last week, raises the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued when making a pay equity claim. The law is retrospective, cancelling 33 current claims affecting 150,000 female workers which would have to be restarted. Workplace Minister Brooke van Velden last week said the changes would save the Crown money. Opponents say it will make it harder for women in female dominated industries to make a claim. Labour's Jan Tinetti asked van Velden a question about the column during Parliament's Question Time yesterday, to which van Velden dropped the c-word in protest over the slur being used. Van Velden has defended the use of the word, blaming Labour for introducing the column in the first place. "I think it's really important that I shone a light on the misogyny that Labour actually did bring into the House. They brought it here, I responded." But Tinetti rejected that, saying there was nothing in the quote she referenced in her question that brought misogyny into the House. "I deliberately went through that to find the quote that would mention the economic backhander." It was pointed out to Tinetti that the column in question used the c-word, "that c-word I would never use," she said. "That doesn't mean to say that people's emotions aren't riled by the fact there's been choices made here with the Budget, and future pay cuts have been made to women. "This has got people very uptight and very angry, and emotions have risen." She rejected the notion Labour had used poor political judgment by referencing the column, and said the party was having a discussion around misogyny, as well as women taking money off other women in "future pay cuts." The coalition has criticised Labour for not calling out the column itself, with Finance Minister Nicola Willis taking aim at party leader Chris Hipkins directly for his past position of believing men should speak out against gendered abuse. Hipkins said newspapers make editorial judgments about what they are and aren't willing to publish, "and that's a question for the editors and the people writing that material". "Given the opportunity to make that exact statement, he did not; instead, he suddenly discovered free speech, and my view is that actually the standard you walk past is the standard you accept," Willis said. NZ First MP Shane Jones said it had been the "most extraordinary day of language in the House" and discussion carried over into General Debate later in the afternoon. Chris Bishop said the c-word had been "thrown around a bit" in the last week. "I want to read out some c-words that I think apply to the Labour opposition: callous, cruel and cowardly." He also said the "double standards" and "misleading statements" put out by the Labour Party over the last week were "cruel". "Because this debate all started because of the actions the government took when it comes to equal pay, and we have heard all sorts of nonsense from the Opposition." Hipkins took aim at Bishop too for "jumping on his high horse" and saying Labour needed to do better. "I can only say I hope he didn't injure himself as he fell off his high horse when it was flying at breakneck speed in the wrong direction. "Because at the same time he was saying we needed to do better, his own party was posting artificial intelligence-generated images of me when he was saying that we needed to 'raise the tone' of the debate."
