Definitions Bill will not advance the rights, opportunities or wellbeing of NZ women.

The National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) supports the statement by the Honorable Nicola Grigg, Minister for Women, when she said, "I'm not convinced that this bill will advance the rights and opportunities or the wellbeing of women and girls in any way, shape, or form in New Zealand.”

The Bill is unworkable, unscientific in that it ignores innate variation of sex characteristics (that is, intersex people), exclusionary and discriminatory, and breaches human rights.

NCWNZ urges the Minister to persuade her colleagues that the Definitions Bill is a waste of time and money. Time and money which could be used by the government on legislation that will improve the wellbeing of women. Time and money that could be used by cash-strapped and time-poor community groups to work on initiatives that progress the status of women instead of preserving the status quo.

The Law Commission’s Ia Tangata report is a great example of a wide ranging consultation that allowed people to have demographic input, and produced a comprehensive set of recommendations on gender. NCWNZ recommends that the government looks to the Ia Tangata report to hear what New Zealanders think, instead of wasting everyone’s time with a Select Committee process.