11. Question No. 11—WomenJAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for WomenQuestion No. 11—Women11. JAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for Women: Is she concerned that the gender pay gap increased recently to 9.2 percent and that Statistics New Zealand did not report on the ethnic minority gender pay gap altogether?Hon JAN TINETTI (Minister for Women): No gender pay gap is acceptable and while there is a gender pay gap there is more work to be done. There is no single fix to the gender pay gap and the collection of good data is one of the many tools needed to fix it along with the Equal Pay Amendment Act; Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine the Women's Employment Action Plan; reducing the public sector pay gap; and implementing fair pay agreements. I'm advised Stats New Zealand has been considering this as a potential publication in the future. However in order to ensure reliable and accurate data on ethnic pay gaps Stats New Zealand needs to undertake a significant volume of work to assess develop and define the ethnic pay gap while ensuring those statistics remain internationally comparable.Jan Logie: What is the Government going to do this term to reduce the pay gap which means wāhine Māori and Pasifika women get paid around 25 percent less than Pākehā men?Hon JAN TINETTI: This Government knows that the ethnic communities are often the most marginalised group in the labour market and that is why Māori and Pasifika women have been identified as two priority groups within Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine the Women's Employment Action Plan which sets out the actions that we intend to take as a Government. Having said that we do look at the progress that has been made in lowering the Public Service gender pay gap by shining the light on what did exist in a major way. While it has come down again there is still more work to be done.Jan Logie: Does she think it's adequate progress for the Government to still be developing a work programme for pay transparency when it was signalled last term that this work was to be started soon and the gender pay gap has only decreased by half a percent over the last six years?Hon JAN TINETTI: The Government has agreed in principle to investigate whether developing a pay transparency regime would be effective in New Zealand but we do have to be very careful about this. We have looked at other countries and other jurisdictions in the world and we do know that pay transparency reporting is not a silver bullet. It is one tool in the tool box that will help us in eliminating pay gaps. We do need to be very very careful about unintended consequences that may come from rushing through any regime.Jan Logie: Is it true that international research shows pay gap reporting would reduce the gender pay gap?Hon JAN TINETTI: We do know that other countries have brought in pay gap reporting but I would like to point out that the pay gaps in those countries are generally higher than in New Zealand. So that speaks to the point that pay gap reporting isn't the only panacea to the gender pay gap. That's why we must undertake a thorough thorough policy process to ensure that we are not creating unintended consequences.Jan Logie: What assurances will she give women fighting for equality in the workplace that her Government is prioritising our right to equal pay considering we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act and women are still being underpaid by as much as $35 a week?Hon JAN TINETTI: I can assure all women in this country that this is a priority for both me and the Ministry for Women but I will point to the work that this Government has undertaken already that has made a significant impact for women in the workplace. We have as I've said released Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine the Women's Employment Action Plan; we have the Public Service Pay Gap Action Plan 2021-2024; and we are implementing fair pay agreements which will make a big difference to all women in the workplace.