4. Question No. 4—Workplace Relations and SafetyJAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and SafetyQuestion No. 4—Workplace Relations and Safety4. JAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What new actions if any will he take in light of Mind the Gap's research which concludes that pay gap reporting is likely to close Aotearoa's gender and ethnic pay gaps by as much as 40 percent and increase pay by as much as $35 per week for the average worker?Hon JAN TINETTI (Minister of Internal Affairs) on behalf of the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: I thank the member for her question. The Government is committed to improving employment outcomes supporting pay equity for all women in Aotearoa New Zealand and I acknowledge the advocacy for Mind the Gap on these issues. I am closely considering a range of matters that the Education and Workforce Committee has raised in its briefing into pay transparency. The Government will be responding to these shortly. We continue to support pay equity through a range of other actions including through fair pay agreements pay equity settlements reducing the gender pay gap in the Public Service through targets and measures and soon we'll be delivering the first ever Women's Employment Action Plan to remove barriers that prevent women from entering work and support better employment outcomes for them. There is more work to do and it will take the work of businesses unions and Government alike to tackle the bigger issue of pay equity. Jan Logie: Does he agree that an extra $35 for women Māori and Pasifika workers—which is an extra eight loaves of bread five dozen eggs or a bus pass—would make a real difference to working families right now?Hon JAN TINETTI: I do want to caution picking pay transparency reporting as the only panacea to the gender pay gap. Pay reporting is one of the tools that could help us towards eliminating pay gaps. Other tools that we are already implementing include fair pay agreements pay equity and leadership targets in the Public Service. The Government has also delivered a suite of improvements from 1 April that will see income increases for over 1.4 million New Zealanders. Jan Logie: What is the Minister's response to research by Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission which shows that the KiwiSaver pay gap is increasing with women having 20 percent less in retirement savings than men in part due to the cumulative impact of the gender wage gap? Hon JAN TINETTI: On behalf of the Minister: the discrepancies that are happening in the KiwiSaver wage gap are symptomatic of the wider issues that are occurring in the gender pay gap and the drivers that cause that. I happen to know that my colleague the Minister for Women has commissioned some research around this and I look forward to having future conversations with her about this. Jan Logie: Nice. What is the Minister's response to the Education and Workforce Committee's final report into pay transparency which found that the Government should urgently adopt mandatory pay transparency reporting and require organisations to take action to address inequities? Hon JAN TINETTI: On behalf of the Minister: I found that the report from the Education and Workforce Committee was incredibly helpful in discussions that we will be having going forward in this. We have the mandatory 60 working days to respond to that and we will be responding to that in due course. But we do take this issue very seriously and nothing at this stage is off the table. Jan Logie: Does he stand by his statement on the pay gap that there's a strong level of commitment. We want to examine the evidence we'll examine the select committee's report and then we'll make considered decisions" and if so now that he has evidence from the committee and Mind the Gap that comprehensive pay reporting does work will he finally take action? Hon JAN TINETTI: On behalf of the Minister: to the first part of that question absolutely. To the second part we are working through those recommendations at the moment and our response to that report will come through shortly. Jan Logie: How much longer will women Māori and Pasifika bear the cost of pay gaps because the Government has not started work on legislation to introduce comprehensive pay gap reporting which was promised last term by his predecessor and the then Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter? Hon JAN TINETTI: On behalf of the Minister: while there is a gender pay gap there is more work to be done because while there is a gender pay gap it is completely unacceptable which is why we have taken work on implementing fair pay agreements pay equity settlements increased paid parental leave leadership targets and a dedicated Women's Employment Action Plan. We are taking action to reduce the pay gap."