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Women's Minister Paula Bennett is encouraging all New Zealanders to take some time tomorrow, on Suffrage Day, to reflect on women's rights in New Zealand.

Women’s Minister Paula Bennett has today welcomed a reduction in the Gender Pay Gap of almost three percentage points.

Women’s Minister Paula Bennett has today released guidance for private sector companies about actions they can take to close their gender pay gap.

“The Ministry for Women has spoken to 26 companies about their experiences and what they’re doing to close the gap. Twelve companies have released their profiles publically while another 14 had off the record conversations. These companies recognise addressing this issue is crucial to their organisation and their employees,” Mrs Bennett says.

Women’s Minister Paula Bennett and Defence Minister Mark Mitchell are congratulating the Royal New Zealand Air Force for an initiative aimed at attracting more young women into the Air Force.

The School to Skies programme highlights the range of technical and aviation careers available in the Air Force to years 12 and 13 girls with an interest in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Women’s Minister Paula Bennett has today announced that the Government has reached its target of appointing 45 per cent of women to state sector boards and committees, the highest percentage ever.

“The government set this target in 2011 and now we’ve reached 45.3 per cent of women on state sector boards. This has been a priority for us and I’m now determined to not only maintain this level but increase it even further,” Mrs Bennett says.

Minister for Women Paula Bennett and Minister for Social Development Anne Tolley have announced the Government is providing $50,000 over the next year to assist KidsCan supply schools with sanitary products.

“This funding will provide sanitary products to the schools KidsCan supports. It’s expected that over 16,500 packs will be supplied to around 2,000 girls,” says Mrs Bennett.

Good afternoon, and thank you for coming along today. I’d like to acknowledge Chris Till and the Human Resources Institute for hosting me. 

This is my first major speech as Minister for Women and that seems quite appropriate given that tomorrow is International Women’s Day. 

Women’s Minister Paula Bennett has today expressed disappointment at the findings of new research which shows bias and perceptions about women in the workplace are what’s driving the Gender Pay Gap.

“The Gender Pay Gap has remained static for a decade now at around 12 per cent. This new research shows that the traditional reasons for women lagging behind, including the types of work they carry out, family responsibilities, education and age are not the main reasons,” Mrs Bennett says.

State Services Minister Paula Bennett has welcomed an agreement with unions which will see the Government’s new pay equity principles applied for the first time.

In November the Government announced it had accepted the recommendations of the Joint Working Group on Pay Equity. The Principles were developed by the Joint Working Group on Pay Equity to make it easier for women to file pay equity claims with their employers, and assist employers in addressing those claims, rather than having to go through the courts.

Some of New Zealand’s most inspiring women have been recognised in the 2017 New Year’s Honours list released today.

Olympian Valerie Adams, Maori educator Georgina Kingi and former Wellington Mayor Fran Wilde were all made Dames Companion and were among 81 women to receive a New Year Honour. Minister for Women Paula Bennett says all New Zealanders will be celebrating their achievements.