Women’s rights bill supported

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33478, 8 March 1974, Page 3

Women’s rights bill supported

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 7. A Women’s Rights of Employment Bill, introduced to Parliament today by the Opposition in a bid to prohibit job discrimination against women, received some support from the Government. The National Party spokesman on labour, Mr D. S. Thomson (Stratford), who proposed the bill, said it was similar to one he introduced last year, but it went further and forbade the Crown to discriminate against women in the State services. The Minister of Labour (Mr Watt) said that all M.P.s would agree with the principle of the bill, and on his motion the bill was sent to the Select Committee on ; Women’s Rights which is ; now holding hearings. I Mr Watt, however, gave no assurances on Mr Thomson’s

I request that the bill should ibe made law this year. The eventual fate of the •bill was over to the committee, and it might or might not decide to report it back to the House separately from its main report on women’s rights, Mr ( Watt said. The time for the committee’s sittings was recently extended to November 30, but Mr Watt said today that he expected it to report well before then. Mr Thomson’s bill has only four clauses. Its main provision is that no industrial instrument shall contain any provision which discriminates directly or indirectly against women in their employment.

State housing.—The State Advances Corporation has bought 192 existing houses throughout New Zealand since the Labour Government took office, the Minister of; Housing (Mr Fraser) told Parliament yesterday. The purchase of these houses, at an average price of about. $15,000, had made" a signifi-; cant contribution to the State housing rental pool, he said. (P.A.).