Pillay Lynne: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Pillay Lynne: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:638;Page:8387] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
: 
 It is with pride that I stand here and thank the Labour Government for elevating this bill the Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill to the status of a Government bill. This Government did not want this bill to languish on the Order Paper on members’ day; it sees this issue as more important. Now we have the opportunity to talk about this bill and to recognise it rather than having to wait every fortnight while other matters are discussed and debated on members’ day. 
I acknowledge Paula Bennett who spoke out in this House at the bill’s first reading against the fact that this bill was a member’s bill. She said that it should have been recognised and should have had higher status. I think she was correct and I am very grateful to the Minister of Women’s Affairs Lianne Dalziel who said that this bill was more important that it was a women’s issue that we wanted to be there that we wanted to validate our position at the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and that we wanted to elevate this bill to the status of a Government bill. So I am happy to say to Paula Bennett tonight that this Government has made her day. 
 I also thank the members of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee who worked really really hard on this bill and came back with a common-sense unanimous report and an endorsement of this bill. I thank this House for the unanimous support at the first reading and I am confident that that support will be even stronger now that this bill has been elevated to a Government bill. 
This Government unlike the Opposition recognises and actually celebrates women. It celebrates and advocates for women’s rights. It saddens me to hear the Opposition refer to this bill as a tinpot bill—a tinpot bill that actually recognises the rights of women and that says that women have the ability the skills and should be recognised like men in the armed forces. 
I want to speak about the open day at Whenuapai that I attended recently— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Was John Key there? 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: I did not see John Key there. I do not know that he did attend. But I was certainly there as was our Minister of Defence Phil Goff. It was wonderful to see the camaraderie and all the goodwill amongst the men and women in our armed forces. I acknowledge the service that they provide and how well they do it. I also acknowledge the armed forces because even though the policy stated that women should be discriminated against the armed forces abandoned that policy in 2000. They were not applying that exemption. They were quite visionary in that way. But it meant in terms of our standing with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women we had a little bit of a blot on our landscape. I am really pleased we are able to now put what is practice into our theory and that blot on our landscape will be there no more. 
I had the privilege of going to a women’s conference in Geneva with other parliamentary members and I want to talk of the pride that I felt when given the right to speak on this bill—a bill that Dr Wayne Mapp refers to as a tinpot bill. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: I raise a point of order Mr Deputy Speaker. If I am going to be represented I like at least to be represented correctly. I referred to a certain international committee as tinpot. I certainly fully support the bill which I applaud. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Wrong time Dr Mapp. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: I am proud to say that I belong to a Government that does not refer to international committees which advocate and represent women’s interests as tinpot. But I think the National Party’s attitude to women really sums it up. I think it suddenly has a new-found interest in women in that it realises that women really do not support it. We have heard arguments from that side of the House as to whether we really need a Ministry of Women’s Affairs and where have we ever seen advocacy for women from that side of the House? I am quite hopeful that the women members from the National Party will take a call and say that they do not think that international organisations that advocate for women are tinpot organisations. 
If I can return to the armed forces I am really pleased that they were visionary enough to ensure that women were not discriminated against. I want to recognise New Zealand’s long and very very proud record of recognition and promotion of the rights of women both at home and in fact in the international forum as well. 
New Zealanders are very proud of the fact that as we all know we were the first country where women won the right to vote. Since that landmark decision in September 1893 we have passed a comprehensive set of laws designed to protect human rights not just of women but of all New Zealanders—Acts such as the Human Rights Act the Care of Children Act the Civil Union Act the Relationships (Statutory References) Act and the New Zealand Sign Language Act. More recently we have the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Repeal Bill. Those pieces of legislation can be seen as ongoing legislation that this Government and former Governments have introduced to ensure that human rights in this country are in the place they should be—that is at the forefront. 
Unjustified discrimination is not acceptable in any society and least of all in New Zealand which is leading the way. I say again that New Zealand women have provided so much good service in the armed forces. I draw members’ attention to the recognition and celebration of the wonderful contribution that women have made in the booklet  
Twenty-five Years of Women in the New Zealand Armed Forces 
 which I would like to table in the House later. 
Looking back over the past 25 years or even not quite so far as that we would all accept that it has not been easy in that women were not actually recognised and did not have the same rights as men. Even when the equal pay legislation came into force women in the armed forces did not enjoy the same privileges as women working in civilian society. I am pleased that that is now not the case. We now have a bill before this Parliament that I know—and it may sound big-headed—will receive unanimous support from everybody here. I know that it is because of the goodwill of the Minister of Women’s Affairs that the bill has been taken up as a Government bill. I think that is good for women in this country. In fact it shows— 
Darien Fenton 
: We value women on this side of the House. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: Thank you. It shows we value women on this side of the House. It is one of the myriad things this Government has put in place for women and I am pleased that the Opposition has broken its record of opposing most things for women and is at least getting behind this bill. Thank you very much Mr Deputy Speaker. It has been a pleasure to speak on this bill and I commend it to the House.