Women protest against cuts

Press, 18 September 1982, Page 6

Women protest against cuts

More than .100 -women marched through Christchurch last evening to protest against the Government's spending cuts and the new tax structure. The demonstration was organised by Christchurch Women Against the Cuts, a coalition of women's groups spanning the trade unions, health and education groups, and the feminist movement. The marchers carried placards proclaiming that the 3 per cent cut in Government spending “hit women hardest,” and that women's jobs would be “the first to go." Others asked: “What about the kids?" The protesters met in Cathedral Square and walked to Victoria Square, where they were told by march

organisers that a letter of congratulation had been received from the member of Parliament for Lyttelton. Mrs Ann Hercus. Protest songs were sung and the marchers were addressed by Ms Susan Iverson, who said that the revised tax code penalised those who "could least fight back"— married women and superannuitants. Married , women earning less than $13,000 a year, and less than their husbands, could expect to pay 5.5 per cent more in taxes under the new structure, she said. “It seems that it (the tax .code) is redistributing the money within the home to make women more economically dependent upon their husbands." Ms Iverson said.