‘Women losing out‘

Press, 29 April 1981, Page 6

‘Women losing out‘

PA Wellington The Leader of the Labour Party (Mr Rowling) said yesterday that the promise of equal opportunity for many women was as far away as ever. As the economy worsened it was women who suffered most, on the one hand losing their jobs and on the other having to bear the brunt of economic stress in the home. Mr Rowling made these statements when presenting the Labour Party women’s policy at Parliament to a gathering of parly supporters. He said the policy was a blueprint for the mature and just society that must be won for all New Zealanders. He asked New Zealand to focus on two main principles:— — The responsibility of the

community, in its widest sense, to support and cherish the family unit in its many forms. — The right of every person within those families to dignity, opportunity and human values. According to Mr Rowling many paid only lip service to these principles. He criticised the “atmosphere of intolerance, suspicion and plain old fashined witch-hunting stirred up and led by those whose position and responsibility, if not their instincts, should have led them to something much better.

The contribution of women was not simply an extension of men. Their contribution would be original, creative and would greatly add to the nation’s maturity, Mr Rowling said. The Labour Party pledged to hold a referendum on the

Contraception, Sterlisation and Abortion Act within six months of becoming the Government. This was one of the promises made in Labour’s women’s policy. The party said it would also consider widening the definition of rape to include rape within marriage and that it would ensure parental leave for one parent for 12 months.

The policy says women still do not have effective equality of opportunity in New Zealand; particularly obvious in the fields of education, health, child care, law and violence, in public life, business and employment and the home, family and community.

Labour promises to provide family planning services in ante-natal clinics. It will also provide free contraceptives and make sterilisations more freely available.