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Under Lock and Key

"Go home and do your ironing, washing and look after the children," was the response of Nelson M.P., Mr M.F. Courtney when he spoke to a group of women protesting outside his house during last weekend's National Protest Weekend to oppose the findings of the Royal Commission on Contraception, Sterilization, and Abortion. His remark exposed the purpose of the Royal Commission's Report - yet another part of the Government's plan to keep women in the home.

The Royal Commission's report is designed to reduce the number of abortions, but at the same time 'frcecontraceptives are dismissed as being too expensive. Taken with the Government's cuts in the Domestic Purposes Benefit, the wage freeze, the rising cost of living, the appalling child-care facilities and the growing shortage of suitable jobs for women this can be clearly seen as a deliberate attempt to force women back into the home.

The Government wants women in the home because they supply the economy with millions of hours of unpaid labour which is necessary to maintain the nation's workforce. In an economy based on profit, such as ours, there is also a need for areserve of labour which can be easily hired and fired, to do temporary, low-paying or undesirable jobs, not to mention strike breaking.

Throughout New Zealand there has been continuous protest since the Report's release. A final point to this was the National Protest Weekend (July 8-10). Canvassing to poll opposition to the Report street [unclear: stalls], information bureaus and demonstrations were among the activities held in Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, Dunedin and Queenstown.

In Wellington, CoAction organised a march on July 8th which drew about 750 people. This culminated in a public meeting addressed by Helen Smith (lawyer), Mary Batchelor (MP for Avon), and Kay Goodger (WONAAC).