Dalziel Lianne: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Dalziel Lianne: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:638;Page:8385] 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Women's Affairs) 
: 
 I move  
That the Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. I would like to begin by acknowledging the member for Waitakere in whose name this bill was first introduced. Lynne Pillay deserves credit for bringing this matter before the House in the form of a very well-crafted member’s bill. I would like to place on record my congratulations to her on bringing this bill to this point. 
I approached the Leader of the House last week because I was becoming increasingly concerned about our ability as a House to meet the timetable for the bill’s passage. It was on the list of members’ bills and could be dealt with only once every fortnight. With the 3-week Easter adjournment coming up it would mean that we would be getting to the point where I was concerned that we would not be able to pass this legislation in time to lift the reservation before reporting to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women this year. 
At this stage we do not have a final date for attending the committee but the advice that I have is that it will be in the last week in July or in the first week in August. As members opposite know quite well there is a process that has to be gone through in terms of the Treaty examination in order for the reservation to be lifted. I am glad that Opposition members are so supportive of this legislation because they themselves would like to see the reservation lifted in time for the committee report that I will be presenting on behalf of the Government. 
I must also acknowledge my colleagues the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Defence who were very helpful in getting this legislation through into the House. I thank members of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee for their very thoughtful and constructive consideration of the bill. I note that the decision of the committee was unanimous and I am indeed very grateful to all members of the House for honouring what is a very important step forward for New Zealand women. 
In recommending this bill to the House I would like briefly to cover its contribution to New Zealand’s international obligations in relation to the rights of women and then to discuss just briefly the purpose and impact of the bill. New Zealand is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The convention is often described as an international Bill of Rights for women. By ratifying the convention State parties agree to take all appropriate measures including legislation and temporary special measures to enable women to enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms. The convention permits ratification subject to reservations provided that the reservations are compatible with the object and purpose of the convention. 
Until now New Zealand has reserved the right to discriminate against women in respect of combat roles in the armed forces and law enforcement roles that require serving in situations involving violence or the threat of violence. New Zealand has consistently been urged by the committee to take the steps necessary for the withdrawal of this reservation. New Zealand submitted its sixth report under the convention in March last year and advised the committee in that report that in practice women had the same rights as men to be deployed to combat and other operational units. Women police officers also have exactly the same rights and responsibilities as their male counterparts. Further New Zealand advised that as soon as the necessary legislative change had been made we would consider lifting this reservation. 
The current bill provides the legislative vehicle that will enable us to do that by repealing section 33 of the Human Rights Act which allows such discrimination to occur. The effect of the bill is to amend the Human Rights Act to remove an exemption for sexual discrimination in employment matters that applies to the armed forces. Section 22 of the Act effectively makes it illegal to discriminate in employment matters on any of the prohibited grounds including sex. The exemption in section 33 allows the New Zealand Defence Force to discriminate against women regarding their employment in active combat roles reflecting the now redundant practice of preventing women from serving in combat roles. This bill removes that exemption confirming in law what has been the practice in the New Zealand Defence Force from 2000 since when women have been able to serve in combat positions. 
Servicewomen now play an integral and vital role in the operations of the armed forces. The percentage of women in our defence forces is slowly rising. This law will not change their career options in practice but it serves to reinforce to them that they have a fully equal role to play in the defence of New Zealand and in our important peacekeeping activities around the world. The Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee has carefully considered this bill and as I said before has made a unanimous recommendation for amendment which the Government supports. 
Clause 4 currently refers to women serving “at the front line”. The view of the committee which I support was that the front line is a nebulous concept in modern warfare. Given the reach of modern weapons members of the armed forces serve in armed conflict operations even when they are far behind the front line. As section 33 refers to members of the armed forces serving in an active combat role the committee recommended that this be reflected in the purpose clause which should refer to women serving in active combat roles rather than at the front line. I think it is also significant that the select committee received only six submissions on the bill only one of which opposed the change. 
I believe that New Zealanders will generally support the intent of this bill just as the House supports the underlying presumption that no New Zealander should be discriminated against on the basis of any of the characteristics defined in the Human Rights Act. 
Before finishing I would like to mention just two more impacts of the proposed change. First this bill will also amend section 106(1)(j) and section 106(2)(a) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 to remove references to section 33 of the Act which will be redundant once the bill is enacted. Second the proposed removal of the reservation under the convention which will follow from this bill has impacts on Niue and Tokelau as the reservation also covers these jurisdictions. Tokelau and Niue have already agreed to be associated with New Zealand’s action to withdraw the reservation. The Cook Islands was previously covered by the reservation but has now acceded to the convention in its own right. The Cook Islands has not yet considered this issue but it may withdraw its reservation independently if it wishes. 
Thank you Mr Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to ensure that this important change is now in the form of a Government bill. I noted that Opposition members wanted it to be a Government bill when it was first introduced. So we have now been able to meet the desire of the Opposition as well. I think this is a win-win and I recommend the bill to the House.