Jo Cribb from Mind The Gap NZ is preemptively thanking Prime Minister Chris Hipkins for implementing pay transparency, a cause she says the research has already confirmed is necessary.
While Hipkins hasn't done anything yet, Cribb told Simon Shepherd on Newshub Nation that the Prime Minister "can do something in the next couple of weeks and months".
"That's why we're asking New Zealanders to thank him for being a hero."
There has already been a parliamentary Select Committee which came out in strong support of pay transparency, and Cribb said they "came out very strongly saying 'just do it'".
"The Government committed to all of the recommendations from that committee," Cribb said.
A Bill is expected in the House before the end of Labour's current term, and with time running out, she said "we need to just do it now".
"We know they've done the work, Chris has to push play," she said.
While pay equity between the sexes is becoming increasingly sought after, Cribb said pay transparency would make it enforceable.
"At the moment, pay is very secret.
"Many people even have clauses in their contracts where you're not allowed to talk about it," Cribb said.
Cribb said that Mind The Gap NZ believes that pay transparency "blows this all open".
For Cribb, "pay transparency is one of the main ingredients for pay equity".
She said its embarrassing that Australia has gotten pay transparency before New Zealand.
While New Zealand has a proud history of striving for gender equality, going as far back as women's suffrage, Cribb says we are now lagging behind
"When you look globally," she said, "we are one of the last nations to introduce it".
"The whole EU has this law in for every business under 50 staff.
"It's in Canada, Australia, the UK, we're kinda way behind the eight ball," Cribb said.
Some countries like France go a step further than pay transparency where, if your business has a gender pay gap, you face fines.
Cribb's search for equality doesn't end at the gender pay gap, and "strongly recommends we address the ethnic pay gap as well".
"Pacific men only earn 77 cents on the dollar of Pākehā men," Cribb said.
Cribb believes the major obstacle preventing pay transparency is "nervousness" that it would drive already rampant inflation up.
"The last thing we would want to do is advocate for something that would harm low-income families," she said.
"Over time, when the gap is fixed, it shouldn't create any inflationary pressure, so this nervousness isn't founded."
Watch the full video for more.
Watch Newshub Nation 9:30am Saturday/10am Sunday on Three & Three Now, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
