A pay equity lobby group says it hopes the new women's affairs minister will make better progress at reducing the pay gap and achieving employment equity than Pansy Wong.Mrs Wong resigned the portfolio on Friday after admitting misusing her taxpayer-funde
A pay equity lobby group says it hopes the new women's affairs minister will make better progress at reducing the pay gap and achieving employment equity than Pansy Wong.
Mrs Wong resigned the portfolio on Friday after admitting misusing her taxpayer-funded travel subsidy by paying for her husband Sammy Wong's travel to China in 2008, while he was on personal business.
She has been temporarily replaced by MP Georgina te Heuheu, who also took over Mrs Wong's ethnic affairs portfolio, but it is yet to be decided who will permanently take on the roles.
Pay Equity Challenge Coalition spokeswoman Angela McLeod said the Government had an opportunity to reduce the gender pay gap and "make a real commitment to making a positive change in improving gender equity".
"Under the last minister's watch the Pay and Employment Equity Unit in the Department of Labour was dismantled, pay reviews were abandoned and the minister focused on selectively using statistics to try and claim an improvement in the gender pay gap that hasn't happened," Ms McLeod said.
She said Ms Wong had "let the moss grow over the issue of pay and employment equity", and effective action to deal with dismal statistics from the biennial census of women's participation needed to be a priority.
"We would like the new minister to meet with us soon and start participating in cross-parliamentary work to make a real improvement on the gender pay gap," Ms McLeod said.
