Word Salad Doesn't Feed Hungry Kids.
Willis' Worrying Weasle Words 31/5/25
Finance Minister Willis was reported by RNZ to have said the following in a recent speech to Christchurch Business Leaders:
“Without teaching you to suck eggs, pay equity is different from equal pay. Equal pay is that you and you, if you do the same job, should be paid the same amount.”
That concept is protected in law and must always be."
No,no,no. This is word salad Minister.
What was protected by law was Pay Equity!
And that’s something you and your ACT friend Brooke Van Velden have hobbled for thousands of New Zealand women with the legislative change you chose to ambush parliament with under urgency just before the Budget.
Because the 2020 Equal Pay Amendment Act (which by the way was passed unanimously at the time ) embraced the concept that work requiring similar levels of skill, responsibility and effort should be paid similarly, regardless of the workforce's gender makeup. It’s about Pay Equity which involves assessing the value of comparable work.
Take Section 13 F for example.
“A pay equity claim is arguable if (a) the claim relates to work that is or was predominantly performed the female employees and (B) it is arguable that the work is currently undervalued or has been historically undervalued. “(My emphasis.)
If you don’t understand that the concept of value lies at the heart of the Pay Equity issue Minister, then go to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment website where you will see it spelled out.
“Pay equity vs equal pay
Pay equity is about women and men receiving the same pay for doing jobs that are different, but of equal value (that is, jobs that require similar degrees of skills, responsibility and effort).
Equal pay is about men and women getting the same pay for doing the same job. “
It’s all explained here Minister.
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/30739-a-new-framework-for-pay-equity-in-new-zealand
As you will see it describes quite a lengthy process for determining the outcome of a Pay Equity claim, because comparing the value of a predominantly female dominated job, to one which is predominantly male dominated takes time and discussion, but it is by no means impossible.
No, what was proving impossible for you as Minister of Finance Ms Willis was to pay for the tax breaks that favour the wealthy, giving a 20% tax write off to businesses on new assets with no cap, and hand- outs to landlords (not to mention the half a billion dollars loss in cancelling the ferries) until…Bingo! your colleague Brooke Van Velden showed you how to rob New Zealand women of $12.8 Billion in wages over the next 4 years .
All you had to do was be wilfully blind to what the 2020 Equal Pay Amendment Act actually says and then conflate the meaning of equal pay with pay equity. Brilliant! ( Who said a degree in English and debating skills would not come in handy one day as Minister of Finance ?)
Proof, if proof be needed that this redefining of the 2020 Act was a planned Budget ploy, in which Cabinet was complict, lies in what Van Velden’s boss, ACT Leader David Seymour, said to reporters on the day, and I quote:
“I actually think that Brooke van Velden has saved the taxpayer billions. She’s saved the Budget for the government.”
So, let me be clear.
1 in 5 of our children, in our land of plenty, aren’t guaranteed of good food on the table tonight.
And your word salad doesn’t feed their hunger.
As Uelese, a young Samoan Secondary School student speaking at the recent Child Poverty Action Group Post Budget Hui told the audience ,
“If you put a mother down” by lowering her wages “you make it harder for her child to rise up.”
You are paying with lives when you play with words Minister.
For God’s sake get a grip on reality !
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Well said Bryan. I hope that our memories are long enough to remember all of this bs at the next election.
My challenge to Labour is to come up with a decent alternative and not just be the party that gets voted for because we don't like the other one (which happened in 2023)
This article needs to be read by all New Zealand. Women need to down tools and skills and then see how Willis manipulates the budget. Whatever we do we need to campaign ACT out of parliament and never let van Velden, and Wills forget they stole what women had championed in a long hard battel for, a just wage. Agree too Karen we need a" Labour party" Pay equity should be their campaign next election as should it be the Greens and Te Pati Māori.