Wales vs. New Zealand

 

 

May 2006

Hard on the heels of our own New Zealand Census of Women’s Participation 2006 comes a report from Britain’s Equal Opportunities Commission, Who Runs Wales, counting women’s participation in Wales’ governance structures. The comparisons are interesting, given Wales’ population of 2.9 million makes it a Western democracy of similar size to our 4.1 million.

If there were a gender equality contest, the winner would be hard to call. New Zealand’s female Prime Minister, Chief Justice and outgoing Governor General might put us ahead by a nose. But Wales’ sixty-member elected Assembly of Wales trounces New Zealand in women’s participation in politics. Half the Assembly are women, and half of the eight Assembly Cabinet members – appointed by the First Minister heading the Assembly – are women. This figure leaves New Zealand in the dust, with women making up only 32.2% of our MPs and less than a quarter of Cabinet members.

The number of Welsh female MPs elected to the UK Parliament has doubled since 2004, from four to eight. They make up 20 percent of Welsh MPs. However, five of those eight are selected from women-only shortlists. The report claims that worldwide, achieving over 30 percent female representation in government is only possible with positive action.

In the public sector, the Welsh report says Wales has seen “disappointingly little” change; there are no female University Vice-Chancellors, no Chief Crown Prosecutors, and no female heads of Police.

“Whilst so few women work for the police at every level – especially at the top – it is unlikely that policing priorities will meet the needs of women such as safety in the street and in the home,” says Equal Opportunities Commission director Kate Bennett.

In New Zealand, one of our eight Vice-Chancellors is a woman, but women are poorly represented in the police. One of the two deputy commissioners is a woman but, in the rank below her, only three out of 39 superintendents is female.

Bennett’s summary of the Welsh report could apply equally well here: “Seats at Wales’ decision-making tables are mainly occupied by men - and this has a major impact on the subjects discussed and the decisions reached. If we want our policy priorities and decisions on how resources are allocated to reflect the needs of all Wales’ citizens we need to ensure that the people taking those decisions have a range of life experiences and are not drawn from a narrow section of society.”

The Welsh study did not examine gender balance of private company boards, so it is difficult to judge whether they improve on the 7.1 percent representation by women on the boards of New Zealand’s top 100 companies.