A new poll has revealed strong public opposition to the
Government’s cancelling of pay equity claims and gutting
of the Equal Pay Act, with voters signalling they could
punish the Coalition parties at the ballot box for rushing
through laws that make it harder for women to get fair
pay.
The Horizon Research poll, released by the PSA
and NZCTU, shows a net 159,860 of the coalition parties’
2023 voters would be likely to change their party vote to
parties in opposition to the rushed scrapping of pay equity
claims and the new framework that makes it harder to lodge
new claims.
Based on the 2023 results, this would
result in a hung parliament. A further net 50,750 voters,
for parties not in parliament, are also likely to change
their votes in opposition to the policy. If they all
switched to current parliamentary opposition parties the
government could change. Current opposition parties would
have 61 seats, current governing parties’ 59
seats.
“The Government thought it could get away with
cancelling pay equity claims for more than 180,000 women
under the cover of darkness, but New Zealanders aren’t
buying it,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for
the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga
Mahi.
“This poll shows that New Zealanders see the
Government actions for what they are: constitutional
vandalism and wage theft, the Government has betrayed
women.
“This isn’t just about the left being upset –
28% of those opposed to the changes voted for Coalition
parties in 2023. The Government has alienated its own
supporters with this covert attack on women.”
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The
cancelling of claims sparked widespread protest, and outrage
across the political spectrum, triggering the People’s
Select Committee on Pay Equity with members being former MPs
drawn from the left and right.
“Whatever way you look
at it, the Government has badly miscalculated,” said
Fitzsimons. “This is a sizeable voting bloc. Half of
respondents agree the changes will make it harder for women
to seek fair pay, and nearly half say it will
disproportionately harm women in female-dominated
jobs.”
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Secretary Melissa
Ansell-Bridges said: “The poll shows people are fast waking
up to the fact that women have paid the price for the
Government making its Budget numbers add up and plug the
hole left by reckless tax cuts for the wealthy.
“The
majority of poll respondents – 69% – thought the public
should have had the opportunity to submit on these changes.
Forty percent strongly agreed. This Government has ridden
roughshod over democratic process and voters’ feelings, and
now they’re facing the consequences.
“The Government
gambled that people care more about saving money for high
income and landlord tax cuts than paying women what they are
worth. This poll shows that gamble has backfired
badly.
“Women workers deserve fair pay and to have
historical pay discrimination corrected. The public knows
it, the evidence shows it, and come 2026, this Government
will learn that undermining women’s rights comes at a
political price,” said Ansell-Bridges.
Read
more: Horizon
Research: Pay equity law changes, September
2025
The Public Service
Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is
Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and
supporting more than 95,000 workers across central
government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health
boards and community
groups.
