An Invercargill councillor says the people who made changes to the Equal Pay Act have forgotten where they came from.
Former New Zealand First MP Ria Bond made the comments after it was revealed she was one of 10 former female MPs joining the “People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity”.
The unofficial committee went public today with its plan to take submissions and examine changes to the Act, which were passed under urgency earlier this month.
The changes make it more difficult for those who believe they are being unfairly paid to make a claim.
“[I] just feel really let down by this Government and the way that they chose to have it go under no scrutiny and through urgency, with no input from anyone that actually works in these sectors,” Bond said.
“I think they’ve forgotten where they all come from.”
The new committee is spearheaded by former National MP Dame Marilyn Waring, with its members all volunteering their time.
Unofficial committee formed with former MPs from National, Labour, NZ First and the Greens. (Source: 1News)
Bond was pleased the group had formed, and said it showed the power of people to “make a movement when things are so drastically wrong”.
Waring and Bond were joined by former Labour MPs Lianne Dalziel, Steve Chadwick, Nanaia Mahuta and Lynne Pillay; former National MPs Jackie Blue, Jo Hayes and Belinda Vernon; and former Green MP Sue Bradford.
Waring told reporters earlier today there was a good spread of women who wanted to hear the evidence Parliament should have heard.
They would reach out to key parties that previously submitted on the legislation as well as 33 groups whose claims were affected by the changes, she said.
Submissions to the committee were open until July 31 with an initial hearing to be held in Wellington on August 11.
More hearings will be announced at a later date with a draft report prepared before the end of the year.
Bond was a member of parliament with New Zealand First from 2015 to 2017. She was elected to Invercargill City Council in 2022.
Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden announced the changes to the pay equity process earlier this month.
Claims have been able to progress without strong evidence of undervaluation and there have been very broad claims where it was difficult to tell whether differences in pay are due to sex-based discrimination or other factors, she said at the time.
The changes include raising the threshold of professions predominantly performed by female employees from 60% to 70%.
Van Velden told 1News in a statement: “The Government does not intend to change the law, we believe we’ve made the law simpler and more robust. Pay equity remains and the new system is now in place.
Van Velden said members of the public, including former MPs, were welcome to hold their own meetings.
“Current parliamentarians have opportunity to question the Government and Ministers and public records are available for everyone to access. I have presented evidence during Committee of the Whole House, responded to oral and written parliamentary questions, answered at annual review hearings and we will receive further questions in scrutiny week shortly.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
