Tinetti JanJAN TINETTI (Labour): I rise once again—it won't be of any shock to people that I rise to oppose this Employment (Pay Equity and Equal Pay) Bill. But I would like to congratulate the member Denise Lee on having her bill drawn out.I too like the colleague here beside me would love to support this but I just will not be because this bill does put things backwards for pay equity. It is not a great day for women. This is absolutely not a great day when we have these discussions in the House. That would take things backwards in the pay equity field.I have been in a female-dominated workforce my entire working career up until coming in to Parliament last year. I have worked as an educator but the people that I look to in the pay equity space are the people that I worked very very closely with and they are our wonderful support staff who support wonderful quality education in schools. They are tired of feeling undervalued; pay equity is their ray of hope. But one thing I would like to say is that they want to get this right. They don't want something that is rushed through and will not give them the pay equity that they deserve. They want to make certain that we as a Government get the pay equity legislation correct. That is why as a Government we reject this bill and rejected it in its last iteration as well and we will reject it here this evening.We have been led by our Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern. We've heard here tonight that she has said she will not rest until pay equity is achieved in New Zealand. But we need to make certain that we get that right. As I've said the legislation has to be correct so that we get that right and we make certain that this discussion becomes part of history.I have a dream that one day my sons will be able to have a conversation with their children that this was part of history: Remember the day they had the argument in the House about pay equity?" We might have an Opposition who might laugh and trivialise it but actually that shows their lack of regard for women and pay equity. It's an absolute lack of regard that we are seeing for them that they don't want to take the time to get this right.They have heard here tonight that the Joint Working Group on Pay Equity Principles has reported back to them with recommendations which will be soon considered at Cabinet. But again we've heard an absolute lack of regard around that. They want to make this harder for women and a more difficult space. There will be women shaking their heads at that reaction. They will be shaking their heads that people don't want to get this right.I'm confused as to why an Opposition would put up another piece of legislation when we are working on a progressive approach to pay equity. It is incredibly confusing that you would put another piece of legislation on top of this. This bill would make it harder not easier for any future Kristine Bartletts to win their landmark pay equity settlements. Kristine Bartlett was a hero an absolute hero in this pay equity space.We need to see other professions and other people having those wins as well. This piece of legislation would set that back. This would force parties to a pay equity claim to get bogged down in arguments about sometimes irrelevant comparisons with the treatment of people doing different jobs in other sectors.I think that we are having a conversation this evening that was absolutely unnecessary. We have got the working group recommendations. We need to see those come through and that will happen incredibly shortly. I have no hesitation in saying that this is a poor bill and I would not be recommending it to go further."