Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says that requiring businesses to publicly report whether men and women earn different amounts — called pay gap reporting — is "worth a conversation." He stops short of promising his government will do it, according to RNZ.

Speaking on 6 July 2026, Luxon said public pay gap reporting is "the right thing to do." He pointed to his own experience as chief executive of Air New Zealand, where he voluntarily introduced pay gap reporting before the law required it. That background gives him credibility on the issue. But it also reveals his thinking: if companies can voluntarily report their pay gaps without being forced to, maybe there is no need for new laws.

Luxon named Minister for Women Nicola Grigg to lead further discussion on whether reporting should be voluntary or compulsory. He expressed worry that mandatory reporting could be costly and burdensome for small businesses with limited staff. This concern comes up often in pay equity discussions and will likely shape any future government work on the issue.

Luxon also pointed to National's existing campaign policy on KiwiSaver — the government retirement savings scheme. The government is proposing to contribute money to workers' KiwiSaver accounts while they are on parental leave. He suggested this shows National's commitment to closing the gender wealth gap. But that connection is indirect. KiwiSaver contributions address how retirement savings grow differently for men and women, not whether they are paid equally in the first place.

The bigger picture is important here. A year before this announcement, the government made pay equity claims harder to win. It raised the bar for workers proving their work has been undervalued compared to other roles. Unions and women's groups criticised this change, saying it would block claims that were on track to succeed under the old rules. So the government tightened the rules in one area while now possibly opening discussion in another.

National Party MPs have been preparing the ground on this issue. In November 2024, MP Tom Rutherford announced a free online calculator for businesses to check their gender pay gap. A month later, MP Dana Kirkpatrick noted that New Zealand's Gender Pay Gap Toolkit had expanded to include different ethnic groups as well as gender. In August 2025, Grigg announced the gender pay gap was at its smallest since records started. The party has been building a narrative about companies voluntarily improving their practices — which makes Luxon's "worth a conversation" comment a shift in tone, even if it is cautious.

For now, the key questions are what Grigg will actually do and when. Luxon gave no timeline and no sign of whether any outcome would become policy before the next election. "Worth a conversation" is not a plan. Until Grigg's team publishes what they are working on, it remains unclear whether Luxon's personal view — shaped by his Air New Zealand days — will become official government policy.

Some countries already require this. The United Kingdom has required large employers to publish their gender pay gap each year since 2017. Australia introduced a similar law in 2024 for companies with 100 or more staff. New Zealand does not have a law like this. Whether Luxon's remarks on 6 July 2026 are a first step toward one, or simply an acknowledgement of something others are already discussing, depends on what Grigg and her team actually decide to do.