July 08, 2013
Man ban push lacks Māori support
Labour’s Māori issues spokesperson says the party needs ways to get talented people through rather than focus on just gender equality.
Shane Jones says he won’t be backing a push to have women-only electorate selections and list quotas when the issue is debated at the party’s annual conference in November.
He says while some members feel the party has neglected the issue of women’s equality, it’s a different issue than the one of getting more women on to corporate boards.
"The business I'm in is power and unless policies are going to improve our prospects of winning power, then a political party is going to be like the Greens, perpetually marooned in opposition. That's not going to serve the broader purposes for which the Labour Party exists," he says.
Mr Jones says the Labour caucus has a high percentage of women without having quotas.
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