OPINION:
The final few days of La Fiesta will see us finish with a flourish.
It has been rewarding to see so many people out and about enjoying festival events, especially women and girls giving new things a go. Our surfing event in partnership with Whanganui Board Riders and Sport Whanganui last Friday evening made a big splash. When this activity debuted in the festival last year, we were overwhelmed by the response. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we doubled that. The response from women and girls wanting to ride the waves with the safe support of experienced board riders is such a great example of what La Fiesta aims to do. Thanks to everyone who came along on a perfectly sunny evening out at our magnificent mole.
There are too many highlights to list here. Each festival event brings its own special magic for the people who participate. Our ‘Celebration Breakfast’ last Friday with special guest Hon. Jan Tinetti, the Minister for Women, was one such special occasion. This was our third attempt at bringing the minister here thanks to Covid-19 interruptions. It certainly was ‘third time’s the charm’. A diverse and dynamic 20-minute off-the-cuff speech provided a punchy snapshot of where Aotearoa New Zealand is at in the gender equity space. Astoundingly, we were told that on average, each NZ woman will, over their lifetime, earn $900,000 less than her male counterpart. If you are wāhine Māori, Pasifika, or differently abled, this figure increases to well over one million dollars. That’s the difference between winning Lotto or not, simply by virtue of being female. It is a sobering statistic, and our raw reality.
Minister Tinetti also reminded us that we reached a gender balance in Parliament for the first time in our history last year, with the arrival of local List MP Soraya Peke-Mason following the retirement of senior MP and Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard. While we can all acknowledge that this is an incredible achievement, it has taken a long time to get there, and it will take significant effort to maintain that balance. The glass ceiling certainly hasn’t been broken yet, and the Manatū Wāhine - Ministry for Women will continue to ensure that a gender lens is placed firmly over all policy development.
