Coalition Knuckle-Draggers.

Do these guys even want the votes of women?

I should be crying, but I just can’t let it show
I should be hoping, but I can’t stop thinking
Of all the things I should’ve said
That I never said
All the things we should’ve done
That we never did

Songwriter: Kate Bush.

---

Why are men such pigs?

Save me the ‘Not All Men’ retorts; you know the ones I’m talking about; they’ve got profile photos of dead animals they’ve killed, or maybe some type of vehicle they probably care more about than their unfortunate spouse.

Not content with kicking Māori, the trans community, immigrants, and woke liberals, the coalition parties seem to be vying for the anti-woman vote, which must be smaller than the number of women in the country, you would think, but perhaps they’ve decided the misogynist community is more likely to vote for them.

Winston Peters, David Seymour, and Christopher Luxon as cavemen. Image: META.

New Zealand First is the main culprit, although it’s hard to compare their ugly, ignorant rhetoric with the material damage caused by cancelling fair pay agreements for women, cooked up by National’s Nicola Willis and ACT’s Brooke van Velden, traitors to the sisterhood.

In the absence of having anything much to offer other than selling out the country to lobbyists, Winston “I made three women Prime Ministers” Peters and Shane “knee pads” Jones were discussing what a woman was and who should be using which toilet when along came Stuart Nash and said I know what a woman is…

I’m not going to repeat that here because we all know what Stuart said and why the other parties recoiled in horror. Meanwhile, Winston said he liked the cut of his jib and that they could do with a straight-talking guy like him in the party, giving Nash the green light to go even lower if I thought that was possible.

Turns out it was.

The following headline came yesterday afternoon, and it left me saying:

When the guy who cancelled fair pay agreements sounds like he’s more of a champion for women than you, perhaps Stuart Nash should stop digging. We all know you’re a misogynist dickhead, mate. Why don’t you just shut up?

Responding to Chris Finlayson after a podcast, Stuart Nash said of local National MP Kate Nimon, who has had a baby during this election cycle, “Katie took nine months off on full pay, went back for a week, then took another month off. Laziest MP I’ve ever come across. Nice woman, but ill-suited to the rigours of being an electorate MP.”

Kate confirmed that she had returned to work in the electorate after about 10 weeks, before returning to Parliament six months after her child’s birth. But regardless of Nash’s gross exaggeration, what sort of person calls a working mum lazy? Are you kidding? There are no harder workers on the planet, and quite frankly I’d like to see Stuart Nash give it a go.

Christopher Luxon called Nash’s comments "sexist" and said he was “channelling the manosphere” as Fonzie leapt over a shark on a water ski. He also said that Nash “will not serve as a minister” should he form a government with New Zealand First post-election.

Reader Ann wasn’t losing sight of the bigger picture on Luxon: “We all need to remember this election that this guy repealed pay equity, making women second-class citizens.”

Chris Bishop posted, “Here’s a photo of me with her three months after she became a Mum, visiting the Hawke’s Bay expressway site. Katie is one of the hardest-working MPs I know. She’s a legend!”

Chris, Kate, and Lochie. Image: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisBishopMP

Even David Seymour thought it was a bit much, saying in a curiously worded way, “I was astonished the more I thought about it; young working mums are many things, but they're certainly not lazy.”

Nimon herself said, “I’ve achieved more with National for Hawke’s Bay in three years with a baby than he has in nine years.”

Chris Hipkins, the Labour leader who sacked Nash, and who started the week by referring to NZ First as being Labour’s Seconds, wasn’t pulling any punches.

Image: META.

Chippy called Nash a “walking liability” for New Zealand First, which is not the sort of impediment you want when your caucus prospects start to resemble the living dead.

Hipkins said, “His views do not reflect 21st Century New Zealand. Women are absolutely entitled to take parental leave, and they should not be criticised for doing so.”

Here, bloody here, you’d think that after the example set by Jacinda Ardern, who held the top job as a young mum, that would have been the end of it, but of course this whole thing is intended to reach the sort of men out there who are still angry at Jacinda for being smart and successful and for having the temerity to be a female PM.

Then about 11 pm last night the heat got a bit warm even for Winston, who posted, “Stuart Nash has offered his resignation as a candidate, and we have accepted.” A resignation, how convenient.

I imagine Stuart’s wife told him it was time to pull his head in and stop disgracing her and the children, but the thing about a resignation is that it is not a sacking. There is no moral high ground for Winston in this; Nash should’ve been ruled out from the start.

And so Stuart Nash’s second attempt at politics ends as acrimoniously as his first. Maybe give it away, fella; stop trading on the family name and go and get some help.

But Nash’s statements are only one aspect of this government’s appalling attitude to women.

ACT has long advocated abolishing the standalone Ministry for Women (Manatū Wāhine) along with those for Māori, Pacific Peoples, and Ethnic Communities. The Ministry still remains, albeit with staff cuts, but Seymour recently confirmed he wants to lump all of these ministries together in a Ministry of Culture and Heritage, and then he’d probably blow the place up while making Dalek sounds.

ACT have also backed the Definitions of Woman and Man Amendment Bill that NZ First’s Jenny Marcroft introduced.

Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) said of the Bill, “RWNZ’s priority is improving the lives of rural women, their families and their communities. We do not believe this Bill will achieve that outcome. We do not believe this Bill will improve the rights, opportunities, or wellbeing of women and girls in New Zealand.” Still, what do these women know about what’s best for them compared to the MPs in ACT and NZ First?

The National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) referenced the coalition’s erosion of pay equity protections, the dismantling of inclusive education with the removal of comprehensive sex and relationship education guidelines from the national curriculum, and cuts to family and sexual violence funding.

Board member, Dellwyn Stuart said:

“This Government is systematically dismantling the democratic safeguards that protect fairness, equity, and public voice in Aotearoa. Its repeated use of urgency, its rollback of rights without consultation, and its sidelining of civil society are deeply undemocratic.

It is worse than embarrassing that the country where women were the first to win the right to vote is now showing such a lack of respect for their hard work and contributions.”

Dellwyn Stuart. Photo / Dean Purcell.

National has even decided to turn the issue of consent into an electoral issue, despite a cross-party group of female MPs working to achieve a sensible consensus.

You’d hate to think it was so that National could come up with a definition of consent that was more palatable to their supporters, but it’s hard to fathom any other reason than that it simply wasn’t considered important enough.

All of this made me wonder:

I know it wouldn't be their first preference, but the coalition does know women can vote, right?

Ian wrote, “I'm pretty sure they've got legislation to stop that malarkey that they will try to pass under urgency!”

Oliver said, “I think the CEO had to remind them today.”

All of these things add up, but in my view the coalition's decision to abolish fair pay for women, to literally take that money and give it to landlords, is reason enough for any woman, or anyone who cares about women, to vote this government out.

I don’t want to come across all David Cunliffe, but when I see this government’s actions and the men who support them, it does make me ashamed to be a man. As I cast my vote this year, in part for the wonderful women in my life, I will say a silent F U to these so-called men, and I hope you’ll join me in doing so.

---

Over the past six weeks, I’ve lost 30 paying subscribers, which, despite knowing times are tough, is a bitter pill to swallow - making a living as an independent writer is hard enough as it is. If you’re in a position to manage a couple of dollars a week, or less with a Gold Card discount, please consider subscribing or gifting a subscription.

Have a good Thursday, all you lovely people.

Ngā mihi,
Nick.

To end today, here’s Maxwell with Kate Bush’s magnificent This Woman’s Work. You might think a cover is sacrilege, but try it.