Little surprise at Thompson dismissal

Alasdair Thompson on 'Campbell Live' Thursday. Photo / Supplied

The dismissal of EMA boss Alasdair Thompson is not surprising, says Prime Minister John Key.

The board of the Employers and Manufacturers Association has dismissed its chief executive Alasdair Thompson over his controversial statements on women's workplace productivity.

Asked if he believed it was inevitable, Mr Key this afternoon said, "it had that feeling to me."

"In the end that's a matter for the EMA but I'm not shocked by it."

He said his own interactions with Mr Thompson over the past 12 years had been positive.

"But in the end, the situation he got himself into didn't look like it was sustainable. I'm just not surprised they've taken that action."

Asked about the length of time it had taken, he said employment issues were often complex.

Asked if Mr Thompson had been held to a different standard to MPs who made unwise remarks, he said: "Everyone is accountable for everything they say. Politicians do make mistakes and often have to say sorry, but depending on the severity of what they say there are different consequences."

He said any issue of a public apology was up to Mr Thompson.

Womens' Affairs Minister Hekia Parata said the remarks were unhelpful, untrue and inappropriate and that people should be pleased there has been a resolution.

"I think it's been pretty clear from the response that the remarks made were unacceptable to a wide range of people. In my own experience talking to businesses across the country is that it was a generally felt view that they were unacceptable."

Asked about the length of time between his comments and the sacking, she said it was an employment matter between the EMA and Mr Thompson.

Labour MP Carol Beaumont also said she was not surprised by the news.

"He brought the organisation into significant disrepute and he caused significant offence to New Zealand women and a lot of men as well, so I guess I'm not surprised."

She said the EMA had made a number of commitments about addressing the pay gap in the wake of Mr Thompson's comments and the best way to compensate would be to act on those.

Mai Chen, founding partner of public law specialists Chen Palmer, and chair of NZ Global Women, said she felt sad for Mr Thompson.

"He's had a 12 year career, he's obviously done some great things. But when I reflect on what this teaches all of us is that you must ensure you've got the proper expertise to do the job.

"The Human Rights act was first enacted 34 years go and that made it illegal to discriminate against women on the basis of gender.

"If any employer had taken his view they would have a personal grievance on their hands for breaching the Human Rights Act, the Employment Act, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

"The difficulty for Alasdair is that there really is no come back from that position."

- with Susie Nordqvist