NZ Announces Surprise Halt to Gender Equity Pay to ‘Save the Budget’

All existing pay equity claims have been ended and new ones will be much harder to lodge after legislation was passed under urgency with no consultation.

ACT's Brooke van Velden looks on during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on Aug. 12, 2020. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

The New Zealand government has brought an abrupt end to all live pay equity claims and passed laws that will make future claims significantly harder to launch.

Associate Finance Minister and ACT Party leader David Seymour said the move would “save the budget”—due to be delivered on May 22—by reducing government expenditure by “billions.”