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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.