Kia ora John, 

One of the things that I’m most proud of is Labour’s record on advancing women’s health, employment, and legal rights. That’s because I believe that New Zealanders need a Government that will invest in them and their whānau to live, work and raise families – and women cannot be overlooked in that.

Labour is committed to creating a more equal society for all women. Every woman in Aotearoa should have the opportunity to reach her full potential, regardless of her background or circumstances.

Today, we launched Labour’s first Women’s Manifesto. This builds on the progress that we’ve made and outlines our commitments to women in health, employment, pay equity, financial independence, entrepreneurship, and justice.

You can find our full Women’s Package here, but I wanted to touch on some of the most important points.

A re-elected Labour government will:

• Work with business leaders to develop a for women by women innovation and entrepreneurship scholarship programme to lift entrepreneurial pathways for low-middle income women interested in running a small business.
• Work to deliver significant improvements to women’s health with a range of measures that target some of the most common health issues women experience.
• Extend the maximum age of free breast cancer screening from 69 to 74, ensuring an additional 115,000 women can access the lifesaving screening programme.
• Make cervical screening services free between the ages of 25 to 69 years, saving up to $100 in co-payments. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and regular screening saves lives, so it is critical cost isn’t a barrier to accessing early detection.
• Develop and implement a national endometriosis action plan that will improve education about the condition and improve clinical management and care.
• Continue our work to provide cost of living support, by removing discriminations that means women can lose entitlements.

Under a Labour Government we’ve seen significant improvements in women’s earnings. We’ve grown women’s average weekly wage by 34.3% - 6.4% more than men’s wages and outpacing inflation at 23.1%.

We’ve supported the introduction of paid miscarriage leave, rolled out free period products to schools across the country, removed abortion from the crimes act, and expanded ACC to cover birthing injuries.

Labour has a proven track record of being the party that supports and values women. There’s more mahi to do – and we’ll keep pushing. But make no mistake, the progress that we’ve made is under threat by a change of Government.

In two days, we’ll celebrate the 130 year anniversary of women successfully campaigning for the right to vote in New Zealand. As we celebrate this milestone, we also need to look to the future of what we can do to continue this legacy – and it’s going to take all of us.

So, make sure that you vote this election – and make sure that your daughters, sisters, mothers, friends and loved ones do too.

Ngā mihi,

Carmel

P.S. I’m out and about on the campaign trail every day – making sure people know about Labour’s plan to support whānau with the cost of living and how we’re going to grow a strong economy that works for everyone. So if you see me, please come and say hi!