Submissions

Rural Women New Zealand represents the interests of more than 4000 members from over 300 branches located in rural areas throughout New Zealand. Our organisation works at local, regional and national level to strengthen the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of rural communities.

Rural Women New Zealand supports any policy measures which are designed to strengthen families. We especially welcome any measures to support the health and wellbeing of new babies, their parents, and the bonding of the family unit.

We recognise that this Bill aspires to support these objectives but submit that it is fundamentally flawed in two critical regards:

• firstly; this Bill is principally designed to increase the attachment of women to their workplace. Rural Women New Zealand, to the contrary, gives primacy to supporting the attachment of women to their babies.
• secondly: this Bill - while concerned to be very correct and inclusive of the Bill of Rights, Human Rights, International Conventions, same sex partners, de facto partners, adoptive parents, spouses - specifically excludes many, many mothers who fall outside the narrowly defined focus on wage and salary earners.

All those women in rural areas (and urban) who are self-employed, seasonally employed or casually employed (for less than 10 hpw) are being asked to help fund a scheme which is of benefit only to women who already have the benefit of a regular and stable income.

Rural Women New Zealand rejects the notion that wage and salary earners - mixed sex or same sex, married or not married - be given priority ahead of sharemilking mothers carrying their baby to the shed in a backpack.

Rural Women New Zealand challenges the Social Services Committee to :

• re-order the policy objectives stated in the Bill (pages 1 & 17) to give primary value to "strengthening families";
• explicitly debate the assumptions underpinning the focus on wage and salary earners;
• rigorously re-assess the policy instruments available to support new mothers and young families, regardless of their current employment status.

Rural Women New Zealand wishes to be heard on this submission.

Ellen Ramsay
National President
February 2002