Women MP goes in to bat for the blokes

Woman MP goes in to bat for the blokes
NZPA | Wednesday, 23 May 2007


Men need an advocate in government and the current set up is "inherently sexist whatever way you look at it," says United Future MP Judy Turner.


"This Government is so blinkered by its socialist-feminist ideology that it either hasn't noticed or doesn't care about the myriad of issues challenging New Zealand blokes," she said yesterday.

"Men need an advocate in government as well as women. The Government should start advocating for either gender wherever barriers exist."

Ms Turner said it was high time Parliament recognised the inherent injustice of having a Ministry of Women's Affairs, which looked at issues solely from a female perspective, when there was no equivalent for men.

"Boys are falling further behind in education. Men die years earlier, and commit suicide in far greater numbers.

"Far more men turn to drug abuse. They are more often the perpetrators and also the victims of violent crime."

Ms Turner said fathers were continually failed by the Family Court and alienated from their children.

She quoted remarks by Massey University Pro Vice-Chancellor in education, James Chapman, who suggested the drive to find equal opportunities for women had gone too far and there was a need to restore a balance.

His remarks followed a graduation ceremony in which only 15 of the 158 graduates were men.

"The Ministry of Women's Affairs is horrified by the lack of women sitting on company boards," she said.

"It demands far more women in modern apprenticeships. But when more than 99 per cent of preschool teachers are women, and more than 80 per cent of primary school teachers are female, everyone is silent."