Ryan Bridge: My thoughts on the Pay Equity Bill

It was the last day of school in Parliament yesterday. 

It happens after MPs sit through urgency, they get restless, excitable, a bit crazy. 

They were shouting, interrupting, it was a bit chaotic - even Gerry Brownlee finished question time saying this has not been our finest hour. 

Opposition MPs, particularly women, were up in arms and incensed over the Pay Equity bill for the second day in a row.

The question for National is whether this outrage in Parliament will translate to outrage at the ballot box. 

33 claims cancelled and must start again. Sure, there's a new legal framework set up with high thresholds for pay equity claims. But Labour is doing it's darndest to create the impression there's not. That this is the end of the road for low-paid workers of the fairer sex. 

Dutton was emasculated at the polls last Saturday in part because he wasn't well liked by women. 

The red landslide swept his heartland, handed Albo the win, and cost him his unfortunately named seat of Dickson.

In Brisbane's Northern suburbs and across Queensland new residents, young voters, and women broke for Albo. 

It was a big part in Dutton's down trou.

So, the question for National is whether it's just created a problem for 2026? Will women voters give Luxon a swift kick in the gonads next year? 

The bill creates a risk of them doing so. To counter that you've got the sell the changes. Right now, in the fog of war, they're not getting cut through. The critics, the Jan Tinetti's, are winning the PR war at present. 

When the dust settles, they need to explain, with specific examples, which of those 33 deals in the pipeline or deals done thus far were bad or rotten and why.

Why is it important we save billions? What's it good for?

This is not to say all women vote the same or even together in a bloc. Life's not one big sisterhood of the travelling pants. Every woman is different and doesn't necessarily vote on their gender. 

After all, women didn't show up for Kamala last November, even though MSNBC was basically saying Trump removed your womb. 

Women ditched Labour after Jacinda left the building and the Nats picked them up. 

The pay equity bill is a risk to that support, a bit of a gamble - not one that can't be overcome, but you've got to sell your story. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rage in the House, Chaos in the House for a
second day in a row, this over the pay equity Bill.
The question for National is whether this outrage in Parliament
will translate to outrage at the ballot box. Sure there
is a new legal framework that's been set up with
higher thresholds for pay equity claims, but Labour is doing
its darndest to create the impression that there's not and

(00:21):
if that impression sticks, it could I stress, could be
a problem for National. Dutton was emasculated at the poll's
last Saturday in part because he wasn't well liked by women.
The red landslide sweets Heartland handed Elbow the wind and
cost him his own seat. In Brisbane's northern suburbs and
across Queensland, young voters and women broke for Elbow. So

(00:41):
the question for National is whether it's just created a
problem for twenty twenty six. Will women give Luxen a
swift kick in the gonads next year? That's the question.
The bill does create a risk of them doing so,
especially the fact it's ran through under urgency. To counter that,
you've got to sell the changes right now in the

(01:02):
fog of war, they're not getting the cut through the
critics your jan Tinetti's. They're winning the pr game, but
when the dust settles, they need to explain with specific examples,
which of those thirty three deals in the pipeline all
deals done thus far were bad or rotten and why
this is not to say all women vote the same

(01:23):
or even together in a block. Life is not one
big sister hit the hood of the Traveling Pants. After all,
women didn't show up for KRMLA Harris last November, and
the States remember that. Even though MSNBC was basically saying
Trump would remove your womb, women ditched labor after Jacinda
left the building and the NATS picked them up. This
pay equity bill is a risk to that support. A

(01:45):
bit of a gamble, not one that can't be overcome,
but you've got to sell your story. For more from
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