Thank you for the invitation and the warm introduction; it is a pleasure to be here.

Today I would like to talk fairly broadly about what I see as the issues for women in tertiary education and beyond. As I'm new to the portfolio and new to most, if not all of you, it has been suggested that I begin by telling you a little about myself and about the Ministry.

As you know, I have only been a Minister for a couple of months, but my political career stretches back 20 years, starting off as a Canterbury Regional Councillor in 1989. When I entered Parliament in 1996 as a National List MP I also became New Zealand's first MP of Asian ethnicity. In 2002, I became the first Asian to win an electorate seat when I became Member of Parliament for Botany. And following last year's elections, I became our country's first Asian Cabinet Minister.

 Given that my ethnicity - rather than my gender - has dominated my public persona since I entered Parliament, it would not have come as much of a surprise that I was appointed Minister for Ethnic Affairs.

 But I was very pleased to also be given the Women's Affairs portfolio as I am passionate about ensuring women have full and unfettered opportunities to meet their full potential. I am determined to make progress in the areas where women still do not enjoy those opportunities.

One of those areas is the relative absence of women in leadership positions throughout all sectors of the economy.

As current and future women leaders yourselves, I am sure you think deeply about many of the issues that I am beginning to grapple with as Minister. You all work hard on behalf of your female student membership and, in your roles as their representatives and advocates, you strive to promote changes that benefit women. Many of the issues are specific to the concerns of female students, but underlying that - I hope - is a desire for full participation of women in all areas of society.

 The collective determination and strength of women has achieved a lot, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

The tertiary sector is no different from other sectors in this regard.

 Recent statistics show that women are more likely than men to be enrolled in tertiary study are more likely to study at higher qualification levels and tend to have higher-level qualifications when they leave.

 So the good news is that women are generally performing well in tertiary education, and with this start you would think that women's relative advantage would continue.

However, within a few years of finishing study, their pay starts falling well behind their male counterparts.

 You may be relatively better off than women without tertiary qualifications, but you are still likely to be worse off than a man with similar qualifications. There is a temptation to take comfort from the fact that the more qualified you are the smaller the income gap - its around 36 percent for those with no qualifications, 30 percent for those with a bachelor's degree, 29 percent with a master's degree and 22 percent for those with doctorates degree - but the fact is there should be no gap.

 The gender pay gap is clearly one of the main challenges we face, not just in the tertiary sector, but across all sectors. We need to understand what is happening in the workforce post-graduation, but we also need to look at the choices people make from kindergarten onwards.

Part of the problem is that men and women continue to make education and training choices that are stereotypical for their gender. Although women have entered many jobs that were once almost exclusively male, such as law or medicine, many jobs remain dominated by either men or women.

For example, in 2007, 89 percent of students enrolled in engineering courses were men, while 76 percent of students enrolled in education courses were women; 99 percent of builders, electricians, and motor mechanics are men; women make up more than 90 percent of people working as caregivers, registered nurses and secretaries. This ‘occupational segregation' is a significant factor in the gender pay gap.

The Ministry of Women's Affairs released research at the end of last year that revealed young women can feel limited in their options when choosing a career, and those limits are reinforced by factors such as peer pressure, parental opposition, media portrayal of some jobs, and school systems. I would like to see the research findings being widely discussed and used in policy development as part of an effort to reduce the gender pay gap.

So closing the pay gap is one priority.

Other priorities for me include ending the family violence and sexual violence that wrecks so many women's lives and working to see women's abilities and experience recognised in leadership in all sectors.

In December 2008 government introduced the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill - the aim of this Bill is to improve and strengthen the domestic violence legislative regime. In particular, the Bill proposes Police to issue ‘on-the-spot protection orders' to ensure that potential victims are protected until courts are able to deal with the matter. There is a need, however,  to ensure that Police will still arrest perpetrators of crime and not just issue protection orders.

 I'm not going to say much about violence today, other than to acknowledge that we simply have to ensure that women are safe in their own homes and in their neighbourhoods. Being safe and free from violence is a basic human right and is a prerequisite for any other progress.

 I'm committed to making all women safe, including migrant women who sometimes have more difficulty accessing the support they need.

 So safety is the bottom of the pyramid, but I am also interested in seeing more women at the top.

Although about 46 percent of academic staff in New Zealand universities are women, they hold just 19 percent of senior academic positions. That lack of recognition of women's skills would be bad enough if it was found only in the tertiary education sector, but a similar picture emerges wherever you look.

Of the leadership areas that can be easily measured, only school boards of trustees have more women than men. Everywhere else, women are in the minority - from around 42 percent of members of state sector boards and committees down to less than nine percent of directors on our top 100 listed companies.

 The fact is we are wasting the talents of more than half the population, and we can't afford to do that as a nation.

 As Minister I will be doing everything I can to change that. In the state sector I will encourage my colleagues in government to look at why some organisations have so few women in governance and I will support the Ministry's Nominations Service, which helps find and nominate suitably qualified women to enter the boardroom.

 In the business sector I hope to help bring about change by showing how it is good business to have more women in leadership, as well as highlighting the fact that it is the right thing to do. There's some pretty compelling evidence that shows companies with more women on their boards - and more diversity generally - are more profitable than those that only select their leaders from traditional male networks.

 I want every New Zealand woman to have the opportunity to be the best that she can. I want it because every woman deserves that opportunity, and I want it because it is one of the keys to New Zealand succeeding as a nation.

That's a very brief overview of some of the things that are top of mind for me as I begin to get into my new role. I am looking forward to working with you and with all groups that are interested in making a positive difference for women. I'm also interested in hearing your views or answering questions you may have.

Thank you.