Launch of CEDAW report and Women's Action Plan

Rau rangatira maa,
tenei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te ra.
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

[Distinguished guests, greetings to you gathered here for this purpose today. Greetings once, twice, three times to you all.]

Good evening. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all here to celebrate the launch of two key documents for New Zealand women:
·The Status of Women in New Zealand 2002, the government’s 5th report to CEDAW, the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women; and
·Towards an Action Plan for New Zealand Women, a discussion document to develop an action plan for the future.

I understand there are more than 300 people here. As I look around me, I see women who have made a contribution in every walk of life: politics, central and local government, business, for Maori and Pacific people, and throughout the community sector - not to forget the young women from Wellington East Girls College who will shortly entertain us with their singing.

There are too many of you to name individually, but I want to say how much I appreciate your support and the effort each of you has made to be here, especially those who have travelled from out of town. (And if you managed to fly into Wellington, then you deserve a medal!)

I want to record the apologies of the Prime Minister Helen Clark and the Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright. Dame Silvia has a special relationship with CEDAW, having served on the committee for a number of years. It would be difficult to find two stronger leaders, better role models or more passionate advocates for women, and they both send their best wishes for the success of this launch.

I want to acknowledge my colleagues here this evening, although again there are too many to name.

I want to extend a special welcome to Kitty Bennett (Te Arawa), president of the Maori Women’s Welfare League and Beryl Anderson, president of the National Council of Women.
As Minister of Women’s Affairs, I have entered into a formal partnership with these umbrella organisations that represent Maori and Pakeha women at a national level.

Tonight is the first of what I hope are many occasions where we publicly demonstrate our commitment to a new relationship. The Maori Women’s Welfare League has prepared its own report to CEDAW on the status of Maori women, and the National Council of Women has coordinated the non-government non-Maori report.

I commend both organisations for the work involved in preparing these documents. They add a valuable dimension to our understanding of the status of women in New Zealand, and I’m sure Kitty and Beryl will talk about them in more detail.

I believe that progress on women’s issues depends on our ability to work together, build on our collective strengths and respect our differences. I am committed to ensuring that I, and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, work collaboratively, not just with the National Council and the League, but with women’s groups throughout the country.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Judy Lawrence and her team from the ministry. They have put an enormous amount of work into preparing the CEDAW report and the Women’s Action Plan discussion document.
I doubt that it’s done much for their own work/life balance, but it has produced two invaluable resources that will provide an excellent basis for our planned consultation early next year.

Finally I want to thank everyone else who has been involved in the consultation processes for both documents – the women’s reference group, government departments, non-governmental organisations and individuals who have all contributed their time, energy and expertise. Without you, we simply couldn’t do it.

CEDAW report
Why is CEDAW important?

Dr Feride Acar, the incoming chair of the CEDAW committee, summed it up during her visit to New Zealand in September, when she told the National Council of Women:
“Women’s human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. That is to say, they are inalienable rights of every woman everywhere and they must be the same for all women. Therefore, the yardstick is the standard of universal human rights of women, and we find its most compact expression in the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.”

Tonight, we measure this country’s progress against the United Nations yardstick.
The Status of Women in New Zealand 2002 is a valuable record of women’s position today, highlighting our achievements since the last report in 1998 and reminding us of the work still left to do.

I am proud that when I take the CEDAW report to New York next July, I will be able to tell the committee that, among other things, we have:

·introduced paid parental leave, following serious concern from CEDAW about the government’s lack of action throughout the 1990s;

·put pay equity back on the agenda, consulting widely on the best way to reduce the gender pay gap;

·amended human rights legislation to provide a non-discrimination standard for the government;

·published the Time Use Survey, providing robust information on the paid and unpaid work of women and men;

·amended the Matrimonial Property Act to treat de facto and same sex couples similarly regarding the division of relationship property;

·implemented Te Rito: New Zealand Family Violence Prevention Strategy; and

·required papers submitted to Cabinet to include gender analysis and a gender implications statement.

For the first time in the report, there is a new section called Women’s Views. It records the voice of women in the community, summarising key concerns and suggested actions that emerged from the public consultation. This section adds credibility to the official report, and sits alongside the NGO and Maori women’s reports.

Challenges
In spite of the progress we have made, the future continues to pose challenges for New Zealand women.

The special place and role of Maori women, as tangata whenua and as the heart and soul of their whanau, hapu and iwi, need to be recognised.

Persistent inequalities continue to face many other groups of women, such as Pacific, rural, refugee and migrant women, women with disabilities, and low-income women.

We also need to tackle women’s family and whanau responsibilities. We have worked hard in this country for women’s participation, particularly in the paid labour market, and there have been great improvements in that area. What we haven’t done yet is get the right balance between paid and unpaid work.

Unions are leading the way with research like the Council of Trade Unions’ Thirty Families Project looking at the impact of work hours on New Zealand workers and their families, and its Get a Life campaign to achieve a more reasonable balance between people’s work and their lives with their families and in their communities.

Just today, I attended the launch of Finsec’s work/life balance campaign for finance sector workers, where helium-filled balloons were released to symbolise freedom from work stress. We could do with a few of those around Parliament during question time – but maybe we wouldn’t need the helium!

Women have fought hard for the right to do anything. Now we must fight for the right not to have to do everything – at least, not all at the same time.

Women’s Action Plan
That’s where the Action Plan for New Zealand Women comes in. To make a real difference to women’s lives in the future, we need a clear vision, a set of goals and framework for action across the whole of government.

The discussion document being launched tonight is the first step in producing such an action plan.

It has three key themes:
·earning enough money to care for ourselves and those who depend on us;
·balancing our work, family, whanau and community roles; and
·preserving our general well-being, including safety, security, housing, physical and mental health.

We live in a time of enormous social change.

Increasing ethnic diversity, growing numbers of young women from Maori and Pacific populations, smaller families, diverse family structures, an ageing population, the changing roles and expectations of both women and men are just some of the things we need to take into account.

We must recognise that one size does not fit all. Not only are some of the issues different for different groups of women, but also some of the solutions.

At the same time, it is essential that we agree on priorities, and take a long-term view of progress, so that we do not run out of steam pulling in too many directions at once.

As part of our new commitment to a partnership approach, the ministry is working with the National Council of Women and Maori Women’s Welfare League to develop and run consultation meetings on the action plan around the country in February and March next year. Other organisations will also be able to run their own meetings, and I encourage you to consider doing this.

I know how busy you all are. I know you have given us your views before. But tonight, I am appealing to you to let us pick your brains one more time so that we can come with a democratic and representative action plan to successfully guide us into the future.

Most of you will receive copies of the CEDAW report and the Action Plan discussion document, including a summary version, in the mail over the next week. If you can’t wait to get your hands on them, they are also available tonight.

As you leave, ministry staff will be handing them out in brown paper bags that are rather reminiscent of school lunches.

However, I have been assured there are no stale jam or peanut butter sandwiches lurking in the corners – just tea and coffee sachets to encourage you to put the kettle on, invite your friends and workmates to join you, and talk about the things that would make a difference to your lives as women living in New Zealand in the 21st century.

Our successes to date have been due to the women’s movement working together, setting priorities, and making strong and steady progress. I appreciate your support and the challenges you offer, and I look forward to working with you to produce an action plan for New Zealand women we can all be proud of.

And now it is my great pleasure to invite Kitty Bennett, president of the Maori Women’s Welfare League, to speak to you.