Louise Upston, Minister for Women, has congratulated the winners of the 2016 YWCA Equal Pay Awards.

The awards recognise best practice among business leaders actively tackling equal pay within their organisations.

“I am proud to support this initiative which celebrates employers that are committed to this very important work,” Ms Upston told the audience of business and state sector leaders.

ANZ was named Supreme winner.

Trophy winners also included Simpson Grierson, Youthtown Inc and Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation winning.

Land Information Minister Louise Upston wants paper map users to have their say on proposed changes to the way Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) prints and charges for its maps.

“The trusty paper topographic or topo map has long had a place in Kiwi culture, but increasingly people are using digital versions from LINZ’s website,” says Ms Upston.

“While paper maps are still an essential tool for navigation – after all they don’t run out of batteries – the greater use of digital maps means there has been a reduction in demand.

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and its partners have released a new plan to tackle the invasive weed hornwort at Lake Karapiro, says Land Information Minister Louise Upston.

“Lake Karapiro is a beautiful reservoir and one of the country’s most impressive venues for water sport, including rowing and Waka Ama” says Ms Upston.

“There’s a need for more sustained, targeted control of hornwort given the growing list of events scheduled to take place, including the World Masters Games in 2017.

Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Associate Minister of Local Government Louise Upston today announced the appointment of six members to Environment Canterbury, to complement the seven members elected in the recent local authority elections.

The appointed members are: David Bedford, Hon David Caygill CNZM, Iaean Cranwell, Elizabeth Cunningham JP, Thomas Lambie ONZM and Professor Peter Skelton CNZM.

New mapping of parts of the Marlborough Sounds, Tāmaki Strait, Auckland and Kawau Bay seabeds will ensure maritime safety and help to improve marine habitat management, says Land Information Minister Louise Upston.

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) in partnership with Marlborough District Council has engaged the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research to survey Queen Charlotte Sound (Tōtaranui) and the Tory Channel (Kura Te Au) in the Marlborough Sounds with state-of-the-art sonar technology.

Minister for Women, Louise Upston, tonight announced the 2016 NEXT Woman of the Year award winners in Education, Health and Science, and Sports. 

The NEXT Woman of the Year annual awards celebrate outstanding female leaders across six diverse categories.

Ms Upston, who was a member of the judging panel, said to the 30 finalists that their success would inspire other women to aim high and push the boundaries of what they could accomplish.

Associate Local Government Minister Louise Upston today announced the appointment of Barry Harris as a Crown Observer to support the newly-elected Kaipara District Council settle into its new governance arrangement.

“Mr Harris is very experienced in local government and will be helping to support the Kaipara District Council as it settles in,” Ms Upston says.

“He has a strong background in governance and local government, having held directorships in the public and private sectors and chief executive positions at several councils.”

Minister for Women Louise Upston says she’s disappointed to see an increase in the gender pay gap.

The New Zealand Income Survey released today by Statistics New Zealand shows the gender pay gap is now 12 percent, up from 11.8 per cent in 2015.

“While it’s been encouraging to see a downwards trend in Gender Pay Gap figures over the past 17 years, this year’s result is disappointing.”

Associate Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, and Employment, and Minister for Women, Louise Upston has today opened the inaugural Women in Trades Conference, where she’s encouraged more women to consider a career in the trades.

“People need to push aside gender stereotypes and encourage young women to consider careers in trades where there is high growth and high demand, like building and construction.” Ms Upston said.

Minister for Women Louise Upston has today announced a reformed National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (‘the Council’), which will address key issues facing women in work.

The Council will be comprised of a group of highly experienced business people who will tackle the ongoing barriers to women’s full participation in the workforce. The new Council has the skills, knowledge and practical experience and will be key influencers and leaders of genuine and sustainable change for women in the workplace.

Minister for Women Louise Upston has welcomed funding for Women’s Refuge to help it continue to support women by giving them somewhere to go when they need emergency accommodation.

Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett announced that Budget 2016 funding, directly targeted at emergency housing, has so far resulted in 30 organisations providing 3032 new and existing emergency places.

That includes $200,000 per year for Women’s Refuge to fund more than 800 existing places around the country each year.

Today Louise Upston Associate Minister for Local Government, announced a new national action plan to reduce risk and prevent harm from dog attacks.

Under this action plan high risk dogs and their owners, rather than all dogs and owners, will be subject to stricter controls under changes to dog control laws. This will compliment a renewed focus on education, as well as new work with local government on best practice guidelines for councils.

Minister for Land Information Louise Upston today announced the approval of Shanghai Maling’s application to purchase a 50 per cent interest in Silver Fern Farms.

Minister for Land Information Louise Upston, and Associate Minister for Finance Paula Bennett, the decision-making Ministers, are satisfied that the purchase would create substantial and identifiable benefit for New Zealand.

The best way to recognise the significance of the suffragists’ achievement 123 years ago is to engage and participate in the democratic process today, Minister for Women Louise Upston says.

“Women’s right to vote was a massive step towards gender equality and should never be considered lightly.”

On September 19, 1893, New Zealand became the first nation in the world to grant women the right to vote.

Four private sector techies have joined Wellington City Council and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) as part of a new Open Data Fellowship – providing a fresh perspective on how to make open government data even more useful, says Land Information Minister Louise Upston.

“The Fellowships mark the beginning of a new way of working between government and private enterprise that’ll see more innovation using government data to solve local issues,” says Ms Upston. 

Minister for Women Hon Louise Upston tomorrow travels to Apia to attend the eleventh Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers’ Meeting (11WAMM). While in Apia, Ms Upston will also meet with Samoan women leaders.

Ms Upston then travels to Australia to attend discussions with leaders on women’s leadership and economic independence.

“New Zealand has a strong tradition of gender equality. This is an important opportunity to share our work across the region and to learn from others,” Ms Upston said.

Land Information Minister Louise Upston is calling on Kiwis to help strengthen government policy for making government data more freely available to the public.

“We want to hear your views on whether New Zealand should adopt the International Open Data Charter, a set of global principles for making government data available to the public,” says Ms Upston.

Launched in September 2015, the Charter has been adopted by 17 countries world-wide.

Associate Minister of Local Government Louise Upston today expressed thanks to the more than 3000 people who made submissions on New Zealand’s dog control laws.

“This huge response shows how passionate Kiwis are about our dogs and the need to improve safety around dogs.”

Of the 3,096 people who responded to the survey, 84% were dog owners and 48% were particularly concerned about dog attacks.

Respondents overwhelmingly identified dog owners and poor education about dog behaviour as the two biggest contributing factors to dog attacks.

Legislation just passed will give surveyors and property owners certainty in the location of boundaries for earthquake-affected properties in Canterbury, says Land Information Minister Louise Upston.

“The Canterbury Property Boundaries and Related Matters Act takes a pragmatic view by saying boundaries have moved with the land,” says Ms Upston. 

“In most instances, this means that boundaries will be where property owners expect them to be, as marked by features like fences.

Got a Trade Week 2016 is being launched tomorrow by Associate Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Louise Upston.

The week-long event is part of the Got a Trade? Got it Made! campaign which aims to raise awareness of on-the-job training and career opportunities in New Zealand’s trades and service industries.

Although women are participating in the workforce in greater numbers than ever before, they remain under-represented in science, technology and engineering, Minister for Women Louise Upston said this week.

Ms Upston made the comments at a meeting of women scientists and engineers from the Asia Pacific region.

Every year, women with an interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) gather to promote the interests of women in STEM and discuss gender issues unique to the region.

New Zealand women’s contribution to the economy continues to grow, said Minister for Women Louise Upston.

“The latest Household Labour Force Survey shows women’s participation is now 64.6 percent (June 2016 quarter), continuing an upward trend.

“Women’s employment rate is also high at 61.1 percent.  Compared with June 2015, there were 8,000 fewer unemployed women, and their unemployment rate fell from 6.2 percent to 5.4 percent.