Women urged to be heard in economic debate

Press, 15 February 1986, Page 8

Women urged to be heard in economic debate

PA Wellington Women must make their voices heard in the debate over Labour’s economic policy, says the party’s president, Ms Margaret Wilson. "For too long we have left this crucial area that controls our lives to the men,” she said at the opening of the Labour women’s policy conference in Wellington yesterday. “It is the decisions as to how the wealth in the community- is to be distributed, called managing the economy, that directly affects the quality of our lives.” Ms Wilson said the women’s forums had been a useful reminder of the forces opposed to Labour’s policies and the tactics that could be used to prevent the party from providing women with freedom from discrimination. However, the forums

had been necessary to give women the chance to express how the Ministry of Women’s Affairs should do its task. “The men had their summit conferences, the women had their forums. The difference was that ours were open to all and went out to the women. We did not select a few to come to Wellington,” Ms Wilson said. Criticism had arisen because a group of women had demonstrated they were not interested in participatory democracy but were more interested in “that most patriarchal of values, control of others.” Ms Wilson said it was important to understand why that group was so threatened by Labour’s policy. “We must be clear that our policy is based upon the premise that women are entitled to a choice over the way in which they live their lives.

“Attempts to intimidate us must be resisted. Intimidation is designed to provoke fear, and fear is a constraint upon freedom and freedom is a necessary precondition for women to obtain equality.”