Will’s Word: Pay equity debate a gaslight

Who on earth do we believe in this pay equity fiasco, seriously? Last week, the Government dropped a surprise change to pay equity laws that makes it harder for workers to prove they've been underpaid due to gender.

To put it simply, it's now more difficult to fight for equal pay. The kicker, you might ask, well this change will save the government billions. Labour's calling it a straight up pay cut though, National's saying that’s a lie with Chris Bishop, National's top attack dog, yelling “outright lies!”

Hipkins yelling back, Luxon yelling about Nazi comparisons and gendered slurs, everyone's offended and no one's taking responsibility. What about the actual workers affected by this? The ones who are counting on equity, not just empty slogans.

It is an utter mess watching it all unfold from the sidelines. The messaging is, in my assessment, cooked by this coalition. One side's screaming fiscal responsibility while the other's screaming misogyny.

Meanwhile, we're all trying to figure out why every political fight ends up feeling like a gaslight. Not to steal Chris Hipkins' words from his speech yesterday, but it is a good way of characterising it.

This is an absolute gaslight of a situation. Honestly, if you're going to make it harder for women to get fair pay, at least have the decency to own it. Don't hide behind spin doctors and blame games.

I think the majority of us aren't dumb. We can see what's happening. In the wider scheme of things, the Budget drops next week, so let's see if the numbers match the talking points.

Until then, perhaps we've got to stop yelling. Just have some calm because right now, no one's winning except the government's bottom line.

That's Wills' Word.

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