Rosemary Du Plessis – on presenting to the People’s Select Committee on Pay Equity

I presented the NCWNZ oral submission during the third hearing of the Committee on Monday 25 August, as lead writer Irene Ryan was unavailable. Although actively involved in the full submission, coordinating the Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch response and as an Economic Independence Action Hub member, it was a bit daunting to present to such a high-powered set of women, and to condense our key points to the allocated fifteen minutes in total -- and we needed to leave time for questions/discussion.  For submissions and recording see:

• NCWNZ Submissions: NCWNZ Submissions;S25.15_ORAL_People's_Select_Committee_on_Pay_Equity.pdf and  S25.15_People's_Select_Committee_on_Pay_Equity.pdf
• Select Committee recording: YouTube https://share.google/CR4YgbDYcvab71f2z see 2.09.50 - 2.29.06

Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025

On 6 May 2025, the Government passed the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 under urgency, replacing the 2020 legislation without consultation or a Regulatory Impact Statement. This abrupt legislative change discontinued 33 active pay equity claims—some close to settlement—and made future claims significantly harder to pursue. The new law raised the threshold for female-dominated work to 70% over 10 years (previously 60%), introduced a 10-year bar on repeat claims for the same employees, and gave employers greater control over claim eligibility and the right to opt out of multi-employer claims. It also restricted the selection of comparator occupations, making it harder to demonstrate pay inequities across sectors, and prohibited review clauses in settlements—undermining long-term accountability.

NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch created NEW (Network of Elected Women), a group that we invite to Kate Sheppard House every year for a get together and we collaborate with on various other events. We asked one of the NEW members to write about being a Community Board member, to encourage women to stand for local government roles. Jackie has five terms under her belt on her community board in North Canterbury, two of them as chair, and is likely to stand for a sixth term. She offers her story to help persuade more women to become elected members.

Why did you join your community board?

It’s a question I am often asked by friends and acquaintances who either know nothing about our local government system (and that is a large number) or cannot understand why I would put myself through countless meetings for very little reward.

I guess there has to be a particular personality type that is attracted to reading copious documents, wading through the sludge of bureaucracy and paperwork that slows everything down. For me, it’s about the bigger picture. It’s about society, history, geography and the desire to make your place and the future better.

I was involved in my home town on a number of committees before I went on the community board and I guess I was shoulder tapped by someone who was running for Mayor because of hat involvement. My first realisation that there was such a thing as a community board came when I wanted to put up some artwork and had to liaise with them. The board of elderly men I encountered certainly wasn’t something I would have considered joining on first sight.

But with retirement from teaching looming, I wanted something to do -- and working for the community seemed an obvious choice. A community I knew I would be known in and so had the potential to get votes. A community I was already involved with in many ways.

I’ve always liked change and unpredictability and the nervous excitement of standing for election sort of appealed to my wild side. It was also incredibly scary and is the worst part of the whole business. But being part of decision making in your own patch certainly appealed to me, as well as working as part of a team and it still does after all this time.

The Kate Sheppard National Memorial to Women’s Suffrage, in Oxford Terrace, Ōtautahi Christchurch, has at last been entered on the Rārangi Kōrero/New Zealand Heritage List as a Category 1 historic place. The creation of the memorial in 1993 was a true group effort, much like the original nineteenth century suffrage campaign led by Kate Sheppard. In June 1990, 44 women representing many women’s groups and organisations met to discuss how they could celebrate the upcoming centenary. One outcome was the establishment of the Kate Sheppard Memorial Appeal Committee, which then selected South Canterbury artist, Margriet Windhausen to create the memorial. The funding for the memorial was supported by a public campaign at the time.

Members from NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch were pleased to have two speakers from Women in Sport Waitaha at their Branch meeting on August 20th.

We are all buzzing after the inspiring successes of wāhine athletes at the Olympic Games. But as our speakers, Katrina Mansfield and Rachel Froggatt, pointed out there is still much to be done to ensure that women and girls who play sport, or who are involved in coaching or management roles, are better supported both financially and emotionally. Our speakers highlighted the work that they are planning as a new organisation. They have been set up for only two years and are at the steering committee and networking stage.

Suffrage Celebration 12-1, Tuesday, 19 September, Kate Sheppard Memorial in Ōtautahi Christchurch

Mayoress Chrissy Mauger

Over 100 people attended this outdoor event which was organised in collaboration with the Christchurch City Council and Plains FM.

Liz Kereru and Maaka Tau welcomed everyone with a Mihi Whakatau on behalf of Ngāi Tūāhuriri. This was followed by presentations from Chrissy Mauger, Mayoress of Christchurch, Tania Wati, Ngāi Tūāhuriri representative on Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Helen Osborne, Property Manager, Te Whare Waiutuutu - Kate Sheppard House. Nancy McShane, Public Service Association representative, delivered a speech written about Kate Sheppard.

Nancy McShane, Public Service Association

Sunita Gautam, Community Board Member, Central Ward, spoke about the importance of diversity and inclusion in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Sunita Guatam, Community Board Member, Central Ward

The event concluded with the singing of ‘True Colours’ by the Rangi Ruru School Choir and attendees left white camellias on the memorial.

Rangi Ruru School Choir

TV1 filmed the event and a few minutes of footage was shown in a TV1 One News 6 pm news item on 130 th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. The presenters were recorded by Plains FM and an edited version of this recording, which includes comments from those attending the event, was broadcast on 20 September and 24 September. Funding from Manatū Wāhine was obtained for koha for the Mihi Whakatau and for the recording of the event by Plains FM and the creator of the edited podcast. 

Louise Tapper of the NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch (assisted by Rosemary Du Plessis) led the "Making the Most of Now" project that documented the COVID-19 pandemic experiences of thirteen young women in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

Podcasts based on the interviews were broadcast on Plains FM Community Radio in July and August of 2021. Now four short videos based on these interviews and featuring three of the participants in this research are available on the NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch YouTube channel. Funding for the video project was obtained last year from the Rata Foundation - an application from NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch. 

Members of the Christchurch NCWNZ are considering how to keep up awareness of the results of a sexual harassment survey undertaken at the request of the principal of Christchurch Girls' High School, Christine O'Neill.

Dr. Liz Gordon of Pūkeko Research Ltd. received an astounding 71% response rate from just over 1000 students aged 12 to 18. Most respondants were 16, and over 90% identified as female and nearly 75% as straight. Of the 430 respondants who indicated that they themselves had been sexually harassed, 381 reported they had (in total) experienced 2677 incidents of sexual harassment in the past year, averaging about seven incidents per student. Twenty respondents indicated that they had been raped.