Kia ora John, 

On this day in 1893, over 90,000 women who’d fought long and hard to secure their right to vote cast their ballot in a general election for the very first time. 

That day our little country, in the middle of a big ocean, on the edge of the globe, became a world leader by being the first country ever where women got the right to vote. By turning out on election day, the first female voters paved the way for others to demand their right to political participation.

For these women, though, the right to vote was never the destination; it was the start of a journey to gender equality in all areas of their lives. 

And, as a Party being led by our second female leader, we’re proud of the work the Government has undertaken to honour this legacy and ensure a more equal and fairer New Zealand through:

• Introducing pay equity legislation

• Increasing Paid Parental Leave to 22 weeks - which will go up to 26 weeks next year

• Scrapping sanctions for women who don’t want to name the father of their children if they need to claim support

• Ensuring that public sector board appointments include more women

• Updating our domestic violence legislation so that it includes more provisions for victims and their families, and that the family violence sector can have a more consistent response

And we won’t be stopping there. With your help, we can run a winning election next year, so Labour can continue leading the way, both at home and abroad.

Will you chip in today, so we can secure a win in 2020?

Thanks for all that you do! Together, we can make sure we keep leading the way.

The Labour Team

P.S. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve all of the great things listed above without your continued support. Will you chip in so we can keep tackling the long term challenges facing New Zealand?