More Labour PC Social Engineering

Labour's establishment of a pay equity taskforce is taking feminism too far - it will do nothing but increase the burden on taxpayers, and introduce feelgood legislation for feminists, ACT New Zealand Women's Affairs Spokesman Heather Roy said today.

"Comparing female-dominated professions with male-dominated professions is comparing apples and oranges. Under Labour's principle, nurses should be paid the same as police - although these professions are seen as similar, they are completely different," Mrs Roy said.

"Minister Margaret Wilson's taskforce will begin by looking into the public service, the health sector and the education sector. Any changes they decide to make will begin there - and the taxpayer will foot the bill, not the Government. Salary increases for public servants will come from the taxes of their private sector counterparts.

"The biggest gender-based inequality facing New Zealand women is long resolved. In 1972, New Zealand women received pay equality - the same pay as men for doing the same job - as well as equal opportunity.

"Many men take up nursing, and many women join the police force. They are not coerced into those careers, and take them on with full knowledge of the salaries they will receive. Everyone, both male and female, have trade-offs they must make - including the choice between passion and money. No matter what they choose, the choice is their's.

"The Government is hypocritical on this issue - if it were serious about paying nurses more, it could today tag part of the existing health funding for higher salaries. Instead, we have the hypocrisy that the Government is funding hospitals for wage increases of only two percent.

"Labour's feminists seem to think that women are incapable of making these choices and, so, will remove the option completely. The Government is so sure of this, that it is willing to punish the working taxpayer and small businesses to do it. This is just more of Labour's politically correct social engineering," Mrs Roy said.

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