28 July 2015

Ministers failing women and their own targets

New figures showing just five Ministers have met the Government’s own reduced targets for appointing women to state sector boards is evidence National is failing Kiwi women, Labour’s Women’s Affairs spokesperson Sue Moroney says.

“The Ministry for Women’s 2015 Gender Stocktake makes for grim reading. Ministers Murray McCully, Simon Bridges and Gerry Brownlee have appointed on average less than three in 10 women to their boards last year.

“That is a far cry from the 45 per cent target set by the Government. It reduced the target from 50 per cent in 2010 after it became painfully clear National had no chance of achieving it.

“When you average appointments across their portfolios, only seven ministers met this target; Michael Woodhouse, Jonathan Coleman, Peter Dunne, Hekia Parata, Bill English and Anne Tolley.

“Embarrassingly, the Minister for Women Louise Upston also fell short with 44 per cent.

“The small overall rise of 0.7 per cent to 41.7 per cent women on state sector boards last year is still below the 42.2 per cent the former Labour government achieved back in 2008.

“Not only are things going backwards for women under National, they are set to get worse after funding for the nomination service which supports these appointments was slashed by 35 per cent in this year’s Budget,” Sue Moroney says.

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