This is an anti-Māori, anti-worker, and now anti-women government

A quick list of (some of) the legislation that has been implemented

It was a strange start to 2025. A whole week in January where many of us, some for the very first time, wrote submissions on a raft of harmful Bills designed to tear at the fabric of society. There was the unnecessary and Kafkaesque administrative tasks now imposed on welfare recipients (the Social Security Amendment Bill); the legislation targeting young persons with limited support and who exhibit challenging and persistent behaviours (the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill); a very lukewarm piece of legislation doing the absolute minimum required to respond to abuse in care (Abuse in Care Amendment Bill); and an oddly worded anti-protest Bill (Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill).

Ideally, a government shepherds its land and its people, creating opportunity for all, and enabling the flourishing of current and future generations. Instead, we have had legislation after legislation that has been deliberately designed to penalise waged workers, those unable to work, disabled people, and now, women.

The past two years we have seen the most anti-Māori legislation in decades, designed to strip Māori as Treaty partners of their rights, remove Crown responsibilities, and open up our country for exploitation by the already wealthy. While most are aware of the Treaty Principles Bill and the Regulatory Standards Bill, there is also the following:

• Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2024 which reinstated binding referendums for councils that established Māori wards and requires Councils to hold referendums during the 2025 local elections

• The disestablishment of the Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority, an entity created to address health disparities and existing inequalities in health outcomes.

• Passing of the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 that bypasses environmental and planning regulations and sidelines iwi and hapū input in decision-making processes.

• Reduction in te reo Māori language promotion. Across multiple ministries, this government has reduced funding and support for te reo Māori initiatives, including language education and media.

• Reinstatement of the "Three Strikes" Law or the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Act 2024, which reintroduced a previously discarded sentencing regime the disproportionately affect Māori and Pasifika populations.

• Proposed Repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, which mandates the consideration of te Tiriti in child welfare decisions. Given the overrepresentation of Māori children in state care, this is a regressive and harmful repeal.

It isn’t just legislation - this government has deliberately targeted and cut funding to initiatives that are Māori-centred and/or beneficial for Māori. The May 2024 budget had significant funding cuts to Māori-focused programs, including:

• $40 million cut from Māori housing initiatives.

• 45% reduction in funding for Matariki events.

• Disestablishment of Te Pae Roa, an advisory group.

• Cessation of the Te Ringa Hāpai Whenua Fund, supporting Māori landowners.

• Scaling back of the Hapori Māori Data Capability program.

• Disestablishment of the Te Kawa Matakura qualification.

• Complete cut of the Climate Resilience for Māori initiative

Alongside this, the Health Minister continues to slash and burn health services. Not content with upsetting doctors so much they strike (a rare occurrence indeed), the minister is also targeting maternity, child, and early years programmes. Starting Well, already reduced to six national roles, will now be just one person, who would oversee all child and youth services. This comes amid collapsing maternity services as staff across smaller hospitals in regions leave due to burnout and poor working conditions. Health has been underfunded for years; this government appears to be desperately trying to kill off what public health services remain.

MP’s are running blanket drives to distract from the poverty-driving legislation being implemented

But wait, there’s more! This is now the most blatantly anti-worker government in decades. Not only have NACT abolished fair pay agreements, brought back 90-day trials, implemented mass layoffs in the public sector, cut back increases to the minimum wage, removed indexing of benefits, and slashed disability support, but now they have come for the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020. This Act aimed to address and rectify systemic pay inequities and undervaluation of work predominantly performed by women. Several groups had spent a great deal of time (some started their cliam in 2018 up to 4 years in some cases), energy, and effort working through the processes available to address pay equity.

NACT’s Amendments to the Equal Pay Act (summarised)

• Stricter Criteria for Claims: The threshold for initiating a pay equity claim has been raised. Now, a role must have been at least 70% female-dominated for a continuous period of 10 years, up from the previous 60% requirement.

• Termination of Existing Claims: Thirty-three ongoing pay equity claims have been halted. Affected parties must now start again, from scratch, and reapply under the new, more stringent criteria.

• Enhanced Evidence Requirements: Claimants must now provide increased evidence demonstrating both historical and current undervaluation of their work.

• Revised Comparator Guidelines: The use of comparators—male-dominated roles used to assess pay equity—has been restricted. Comparators must now be within the same industry or sector, limiting cross-sector comparisons.

• The changes would see women in lose $1.78 billion in wages and back pay.

Simpson Grierson, over on Lexology, notes the following:

The changes will apply retrospectively which is highly unusual, and means all existing pay equity claims, even those currently before the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court, which have not been settled or determined, will be discontinued.

A hierarchy of comparators will be introduced and if an appropriate comparator is not available within the hierarchy of comparators the pay equity claim will not proceed.

As Bernard Hickey writes

Retrospective legislation rammed through Parliament last night will cost women up to $17 billion of unpaid wages over the next four years, more than paying for $14 billion of tax cuts over the same time.

It means up to $17.034 billion in wages and back-pay will now not go to over 150,000 workers over the next few years.

That effectively means the planned $14 billion of tax cuts going mostly to New Zealand’s landlords and highest earners are being paid for by wage cuts for the poorest New Zealanders, almost all of whom are women.

Who does this legislation impact? It impacts on:

• care and support workers

• education advisors

• teaching staff

• educational psychologists

• social workers

• youth workers

• probation officers

• corrections psychologists

• hospice workers

• Plunket nurses

• lab staff

• midwives

• librarians and library workers

You can read the full list of pay equity claims that were underway here

comic by Daniel Vernon, Yeehaw the boys

Overlaying all of this harm are mealy mouthed words spinning this cruelty and impoverishment of workers as “delivering for hardworking New Zealanders”, or “getting spending under control” or “increasing productivity” or “delivering efficiency”. Glib words that slide off the tongue but are ultimately meaningless. There is now no more money in the back pocket of women working in female-dominated industries. Eliminating pay equity is not delivering for hardworking New Zealanders.

It is the role of government to balance a range of rights and interests and to deliver outcomes that work for the country as a whole. This includes writing legislation that upholds and delivers on things like human rights, societal wellbeing, human flourishing, pay equity, managing the environment, and upholding te Tiriti o Waitangi.

It’s deeply frustrating when the very government tasked with guiding the country deliberately causes harm to workers, to Māori, to disabled people, and to women.

So, what can we do, when faced with a government that isn’t interested in evidence, doesn’t care about human flourishing, and persistently enacts harmful legislation?

Some quick and easy actions:

• Show up to protests.

• Go to meetings.

• Ask questions.

• Write to your MP and tell them what you think.

• Vote for change (not til 2026 soz)

image of a union button, with the phrase “fight back maranga ake together”

What else?

• Connect with others affected by the legislation (solidarity).

• Join your local union, advocacy network, or movement that aligns with your concerns.

• Support mutual aid initiatives where communities directly help one another without relying on state structures.

• Raise awareness of the impacts, share stories and humanize the impact on real lives.

• Contact elected officials (even if you believe they won’t listen!). Electorate MPs want to be re-elected and both quality and quantity of dissent matters.

• Support or help organize petitions, rallies, marches, or public submissions.

• Collective hardship can lead to burnout or feelings of despair. Don’t forget to look after your mental health, or engage in activities of care and connection.

• People have resisted oppression in every generation; this is a long game. Systems of oppression and unjust wealth distribution do not easily or quickly shift. Build resilience while you strategize and envision a different future.