Speech to Pacifica Conference

Speech Notes
PACIFICA 30th Anniversary Conference. Chateau on the Park, Christchurch.

Kia orana, Ni sa bula vinaka, Taloha ni, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Malo e lelei,
Halo olaketa, Ia orana, Talofa lava, Tena koutou and warm Pacific greetings to you all.

The Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Helen Clark, has asked me to pass on her congratulations to PACIFICA on your 30th anniversary, as well as her best wishes for the conference. She is sorry that she is unable to be with you tonight.

Thank you Emma, Carole, and Diane, for your warm introduction. I am very pleased to be here as Minister of Women’s Affairs and am looking forward to spending the evening with you all. I would also like to acknowledge my friend and colleague, the Associate Minister of Pacific Island Affairs Luamanuvao Winnie Laban. Winnie is a tremendous role mode for all Pacifica women being the first Pacifica woman MP in the New Zealand Parliament and now the Executive as a Minister.

Greetings to the founding President of PACIFICA, Eleitino Paddy Walker, who
I understand has come from the Cook Islands especially for the conference, and all the other past presidents of PACIFICA here tonight.

Given that this year’s conference is being held here in Christchurch can I mention two particular women -- one who was a past President -- Louisa Crawley and the other Rangi O’Berg. We lost Louisa many years ago now and Rangi O’Berg last year, but can I say that my life was enriched by knowing both of them and that New Zealand is a better place for the contribution they made to our communities.

It is right that their names are recalled, because, tonight we celebrate 30 years of the incorporation of PACIFICA, an organisation that embraces the tradition of strong Pacific women. It is a celebration of the huge contribution that you, the members of PACIFICA, have made to Pacific families, to Pacific communities and to New Zealand over those years. It is a time to celebrate all Pacific women, young and old, from all Pacific nations -- whether you are a mother, daughter, aunty, grandmother, teacher, business woman, community worker or (as is often the case) all of the above.

You have helped change the face of New Zealand. Thirty years ago many New Zealanders did not think of themselves as being part of a Pacific nation, but today New Zealand’s identity as a nation draws strongly on our Pacific roots. Of course the revival of Te Reo and Maori culture and heritage has been a major part of how we see ourselves, but so too has been the contribution of New Zealanders whose roots lie in the islands of the Pacific.

In 1976, when PACIFICA held its first national conference, or 1977 when you incorporated as a national organisation, you would have struggled to hear a Pacific voice on radio or television, see Pacific themes in art, or read about Pacific issues in our newspapers.

The big New Zealand film in 1977 was Sleeping Dogs, which helped launch the careers of a couple of now famous New Zealanders, director Roger Donaldson and actor Sam Neill. It portrayed a futuristic vision of New Zealand where diversity was crushed and people could not express their views.

Luckily we didn’t get that future. The future we got was more like last year’s big New Zealand film -- Sione’s Wedding. A future where Pacific culture is so much a part of the nation’s life that all New Zealanders could understand and enjoy the movie’s humour. It’s impossible to imagine a film like Sione’s Wedding being made 30 years ago, let alone it being understood and enjoyed by New Zealanders of all backgrounds. It was a commercial success because New Zealand has changed.

We have become a nation that embraces and values the contribution of Pacific communities and recognises that New Zealand is very much a part of the Pacific. We also now see that Pacific influence strongly in our art, in our fashion and on television. And PACIFICA has been a big part of promoting that Pacific influence.

You have done that in many ways, but one thing you have done, which I particularly want to acknowledge, is to support and work with my own ministry, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

The Ministry is even younger than PACIFICA -- it was set up in 1985 by the fourth Labour Government at around the same time as the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs was established. Women’s Affairs and PACIFICA have a special relationship and have a long history of working together.

Many of you here today would have been involved in consultation meetings between PACIFICA and the Ministry that were held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in 2000 and 2001. Many different issues were discussed in these fono, but economic issues were identified as a key concern. As a result of that consultation the Ministry received funding to undertake the Pasifika Women’s Economic Well-being Project.

It commissioned a company run by one of your members -- Dr ‘Ana Koloto -- to undertake a study looking at Pacific women’s issues and priorities in relation to their economic well-being. The launch of the report of that study in February last year was one of my first official acts as Minister of Women’s Affairs, and it was a privilege to be part of that celebration of Pacific women’s energy and resourcefulness. That event was co-hosted by Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, as Associate Minister of Pacific Island Affairs.

I know that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs staff are grateful for the support they received from the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in the development of the Pacific Women’s Economic Well-being study and are keen to foster and build on their relationships with the Pacific Island Affairs Ministry as it works to provide better opportunities for Pacific women and Pacific communities.

Winnie Laban is a strong advocate in government and in the wider community for Pacific women. As many of you know, she has been working with a small group of talented and committed Pacific women business leaders who are developing
a Pacific Women’s Economic Action Plan. This Plan was influenced by the research on economic well-being and is being developed in conjunction with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs Pacific Economic Action Plan. Central to the themes of both of these plans is leadership.

The Pacific Women’s Economic Action Plan aims, over time, to address the disparity in income and opportunity that exists between Pacific women and other New Zealanders by encouraging Pacific Peoples, especially Pacific women, into high-skilled, higher paid careers as well as into businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit of Pacific women is one that must be fostered.

My parliamentary colleague, Labour’s senior whip and Christchurch Central MP Tim Barnett, attended the Pacific Parliamentarians Forum in Samoa just before Christmas. He kindly forwarded me a copy of a report on Pacific women’s involvement in parliament and politics that was launched at that event.

I enjoyed the title: A Woman’s Place is in the House -- the House of Parliament. Less amusing is the finding that Pacific Island states have the lowest level of women in parliament in the world. Only 4.1 percent of members of Pacific parliaments are women, well below the world average of 16 percent -- which in itself is an indictment on the rest of us when you consider that women comprise more than 50 percent of the world’s population.

However, I was more heartened to note that the reasons for this low level of participation are not enshrined in sexist legislation. In fact, the Pacific region does not endorse discrimination against women in the area of decision-making. On the contrary, the Forum Island Countries have committed internationally and regionally -- and in some cases, nationally -- to promoting the advancement of women in different spheres of public life, including political representation.

So, what is holding Pacific women back when it comes to political leadership in their own countries? The report identifies a prevailing view in the region that women have an equal chance to run for office because they are constitutionally protected from discrimination. But, as women in New Zealand and other western democracies have experienced and -- in some instances I’m sorry to say -- continue to experience, there are institutional and attitudinal barriers -- such as unequal access to resources, land and titles, and weak governmental incentives to address the promotion of women in all spheres of life. I guess the “old boys network” is something to be addressed in all cultures.

Leadership is also a key area for the New Zealand Ministry of Women’s Affairs and our Nominations Service is always interested in increasing the number of Pacific women on its database. The Nominations Service nominates suitably qualified women to serve on government boards and committees.

If you think you might have the necessary skills -- or would just like to know more about serving on a board -- then let me know.

Of course, only a small number of women from any community have skills at this level. For most women the issues are more basic: finding a job; improving their skills and finding a better job; and balancing that job with their responsibilities to their families and their communities.

When you think about the multiple roles of Pacific women, the wonder is that any of you have the time and energy for paid work, but more and more Pacific women are taking paid jobs. In 1999, 52.4 percent of Pacific women were in paid work. By 2006 that had increased to 55.2 percent. In the same period, Pacific women’s unemployment rate halved from 13.6 percent to 6.6 percent.

These changes -- and rising wages -- have been positive for Pacific women and Pacific communities, but I would be the first to acknowledge that these trends are similar to those in the rest of the economy and do not necessarily address the gaps between Pacific women and other groups of workers.

Pacific women may find it easier to find jobs, but they are still over-represented in low paid work. However, there are some early but encouraging signs that this pay gap may be beginning to close. In the year to last June the median hourly earnings for Pacific women increased by 8.3 percent compared to 5.9 percent for all women -- meaning that the gap between what Pacific women earn and other women earn closed a little.

The Pacific Women’s Economic Action Plan will work to promote this trend and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs will also continue to support work to close the pay gap between different groups of women, and between women and men
in New Zealand.

The Ministry’s role is mainly to develop policy to improve women’s lives. It is the smallest government department -- much smaller even than the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs -- and unlike other government departments it does not deliver any services directly to the women for whom it works.

Apart from advising government on policy, the Ministry also looks after New Zealand’s international obligations in relation to women. New Zealand has signed up to several important agreements that protect and guarantee women’s rights and from time to time we attend meetings overseas to represent New Zealand women.

One such meeting is being held in New York next month and I am delighted that Diane Mara has accepted my invitation to attend this Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting as a member of the official New Zealand delegation. The invitation to Diane is a recognition of her talent and of the contribution she -- and PACIFICA -- makes in promoting the interests of Pacific women in New Zealand.

The theme of this year’s CSW meeting is the ‘Girl Child’ and besides Diane, the New Zealand delegation will include Women’s Affairs Chief Executive Shenagh Gleisner and Children’s Commissioner Cindy Kiro.

Diane’s involvement is another example of PACIFICA’s willingness to work closely with government agencies on behalf of Pacific women.

I am aware of PACIFICA’S representation on several committees and groups within government and the active involvement PACIFICA has in health, education and employment areas. I am also aware that Diane makes it her business to ensure regular meetings with the chief executives of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs.

Your contribution to many government planning processes ensures that the voices of Pacific women are heard.

This includes actively participating in the many consultation meetings that are held by various government departments in your regions and providing both written and oral submissions on various issues including, in the past, the Pacific Plan prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and my Ministry’s own Action Plan for New Zealand Women.

This work can place a huge obligation on PACIFICA members and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your contribution, and for the willing way that you work with government to improve the lives of Pacific women. We rely on your insights and your knowledge and we greatly value the work you do to encourage the participation of Pacific women and develop contemporary talents, while striving to keep your cultures alive and preserve traditional skills in a new homeland.

We also value the way in which you are prepared to work with us on issues that impact on Pacific women. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs recognises your unique contribution by making PACIFICA one of only three national organisations that have formal status as its social partners.

New Zealand is a better place because of your efforts over the past 30 years.
I thank you for that work and I would also like to thank the women you represent so well -- all the Pacific women of New Zealand. I want to acknowledge their contribution to the New Zealand economy and all the unpaid work that they do for their families, their churches, and their communities, from which we as a nation benefit.

Tonight is a celebration of all those women -- of their successes over the past 30 years and of their aspirations for the future. It is a privilege to have been asked to share tonight with you and I look forward to building an even stronger relationship with PACIFICA.
Thank you.