Knox Church
Dunedin

Rau rangatira ma, tenei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te ra – mana wahine. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena ra tatou katoa.

May I begin by thanking you on behalf of the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark, for inviting her to open Zonta’s biennial New Zealand conference. As you will be aware, the Prime Minister is overseas at present and has asked me to offer you her apologies that she was unable to be with you. It is my pleasure as Minister of Women's Affairs to step into her shoes.

Zonta International continues to be at the forefront of the fight for women's equal rights through local and global projects that promote economic self-sufficiency, political equality, access to education and health and the prevention of violence against women. Each year, Zontians around the world dedicate hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours and millions of dollars.

I would like to acknowledge:

• Zonta International representative Kika Zitis from Greece
• past Zonta District 16 Governors
• my parliamentary colleague David Benson-Pope
• Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin
• Councillor Fliss Butcher
• and, of course, all the Zonta women here today.

I thought that it would be appropriate for me to begin my address by "Accepting the Challenge" – the theme for your conference – in the context of District 16's biennium theme "Empowering Women to Make Life Changing Choices". The challenge you have set for your District would see all women living free from violence and having access to the education they need to support themselves and their families.

A couple of months ago I represented New Zealand in front of the United Nations Committee responsible for CEDAW – the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Our sixth CEDAW report showed good progress in a number of areas including extensions to paid parental leave; improved access to quality early childhood education, including the 20 hours free policy; women's participation in the labour market at its highest level, assisted by the lowest unemployment rate in decades; the removal of interest on student loans; the introduction of tax credits through Working for Families. It was an extremely positive report to make.

However there were a couple of issues where I accepted that New Zealand faced serious challenges. Domestic violence was the one that I highlighted in particular, but there is another that I want to mention, because it links to issues raised in the NGO reports presented by National Council of Women, Maori Women's Welfare League and Pacific Women's Watch.

One of the challenges women face in New Zealand is the perception that there are no more challenges. The fact that women hold three of the four top constitutional positions seems to be treated as evidence that equality has been achieved. But we don't see anything like equality reflected in the management and governance of our large companies or in senior positions in our universities, or partnerships in our law and accountancy firms. Nor do we see it in our democratic institutions either – central and local government.

This perception makes more difficult to achieve the challenge laid down by David Lange when he opened the Ministry of Women's Affairs 21 years ago and that was to demolish the structure of inequality.

It also makes more difficult to persuade some members of the community that we require gender analysis to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the impact of policies on women. When we identify partner violence as a gender issue, there are those who argue that men and women are equally violent to each other – ignoring completely the reality that the overwhelming number of victims who are hospitalised or killed are women and the perpetrators of that extreme violence are men.

But it is not a competition. All violence is unacceptable. However if we don't recognise the gendered nature of partner violence and respond to that, then we will continue to see a woman die every five to six weeks in this country at the hands of a man with whom she has had an intimate relationship. That is unacceptable.

The CEDAW Committee was very impressed with the work of the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families and has recommended the government implement their recommendations, something we are doing.

You will probably have seen the television advertisements saying that family violence is not okay; it's never okay – but it is okay to ask for help. These ads are part of the Campaign for Action on Family Violence; an initiative of the Taskforce.

The Taskforce’s first report identified four action areas, one of which was ‘Changing attitudes and behaviour toward family violence’. I think this is one of the biggest challenges, because government cannot do it on its own. My husband has an expression I quote from time to time to reinforce the point; he says "red lights don't stop trains". Parliament can pass a law saying something is illegal, but that doesn't stop people from doing it.

Otherwise our prisons would be empty. The law simply defines the crime and the consequences if you are caught.

Changing behaviour takes more than legislation. New Zealanders’ attitudes to things like drink-driving, wearing seatbelts, smoking and even mental illness have been shifted by effective, sustained campaigns. Those campaigns were led by nationwide television advertising, working in tandem with community action and with other initiatives such as education, stronger laws and stricter enforcement.

Family violence flourishes when a society tolerates its existence and challenging that tolerance will be a long, hard road that must engage every New Zealander. The advertising campaign is only part of the solution. The other part is community ownership and action. I have been tremendously encouraged by the way NGOs and community organisations have put their hands up to be part of the solution. The government has initiated the Community Action Fund to support communities that are taking the initiative to tackle family violence at a local level.

I want to congratulate your District Governor for her leadership on this issue and also to mention specifically your Ashburton Club for the "Home Sweet Home - Yeah Right!" pamphlet, which I was able to see first hand on a visit to the Ashburton area.

Ending family violence is a huge challenge, but it is one that I believe New Zealand is prepared to accept. Organisations like Zonta have a vital role in bringing about that change. You are strong, confident women who want to give something back to your communities, while getting the most out of your own lives. You are well-placed to empower other women to make life changing choices.

The CEDAW Committee was concerned to hear from NGOs about the increased use of sexist advertising, in particular ads that sexualised girls and young women. I recently asked a group of high school students if they thought advertising had become more sexist; their answer was no.

But when I questioned them a bit further it became apparent that they didn't see the sexism, because what they watch on TV, in movies, on music videos, makes it normal. How do we reinforce the values we want to instil in our young women and young men when they are constantly bombarded with these images?

The CEDAW Committee reminded us that it was not just the government that is the sole "duty holder" under the Convention and recommended a nationwide campaign explaining the importance of eliminating all forms of discrimination against women – both direct and indirect.

I am mentioning this recommendation here because I believe that is a challenge to us all if we are to demolish the structure of inequality. And in saying this I have to confess to a sense of déjà vu about all of this, but when women campaigned for equal rights in the 1970s, there were no cell-phones, no internet and there were real restrictions on what was able to be seen by children. I am not sure how we do this, but I am sure that education is the way forward. Growing resilient young women and men who respect themselves and others starts from the day they are born.

As I said in recent speech, babies nurtured in warm, loving, safe and stimulating environments will grow into strong, caring adults, capable of forming strong, caring relationships. Babies who are neglected or 'incubated in terror', as one person described the effects of violent households on babies, have little chance of achieving their true human potential. We talk about a crime when someone steals property; but what is it to rob an innocent child of its future? Helping parents understand the importance of those early years and teaching them the skills they need to nurture their child's potential is the most valuable work that can be done.

In that context can I congratulate Zonta for adopting the Teen Parent Units as one of your projects. Combining educational qualifications for young parents with quality early child education for their children provides both with a much more promising future than they might otherwise expect.

It is my view that society as a whole has to take some responsibility for countering those destructive messages that bombard our young people, diminishing their self-image and limiting their ambitions. The phrase that 'it takes a village to raise a child' takes on a new challenge in a globalising world where technology has removed many of the boundaries that protected us from competing images and messages.

It is in this context that we should remind ourselves why the CEDAW Convention exists. It is not just for women; it is for the benefit of the whole of society. This is confirmed in the preamble which recalls:

"… that discrimination against women violates the principles of equality of rights and respect of human dignity, is an obstacle to the participation of women, on equal terms with men, in the political, social, economic and cultural life of their countries, hampers the growth of the prosperity of society and the family and makes more difficult the full development of the potentialities of women in the service of their countries and of humanity."

This really confirms the statement that I was given in preparation for this address: "If the world was a better place for women, the world would be a better place".

So in accepting the challenge that this conference poses, I hope that I have been able to contribute some food for thought. Zonta's commitment in this biennium to empowering women to make life changing choices through education and through the elimination of violence reflects how in touch you are with the real issues that impact on the community and that you have real solutions to offer.

You do this through your international work in Africa, Asia and South America – such as education and leadership programmes for girls and young women in Bolivia. You do it through your advocacy work overseas and in New Zealand to improve the status of women.

And you do it through your support for education and women in business through scholarships and awards like the Jane Klausman Women in Business Scholarships or the Amelia Earhart Fellowships for women in engineering and aerospace sciences.

And you do it through scholarships for second-chance education and in conjunction with other associations for research on women's issues. I have had the privilege of attending some of the ceremonies where your clubs have presented study awards to women, many of whom are undertaking second-chance education to make a difference to their own lives, but usually they say more importantly to that of their children. Their expressions of optimism for the future as a result of your investment in their education are testament to the difference you make.

On that note, I wish you all the best for a successful conference and I thank you on behalf of the women of New Zealand for all that you do to ensure that all women achieve their full potential in life for the benefit of society as a whole. And I look forward to working with you to address the challenges that we face together.