Politics blog: May 6 - 12

New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces, party leader Winston Peters said in a statement on Friday.

Called the Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill, it would require that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms.

The bill was about finding a balance between fair inclusion and fairness for all, Peters said.

The bill demonstrated a much-needed commonsense solution to an issue that had often been overshadowed by ideology.

It would stop the growing trend of mixed-sex toilet spaces which impacted the privacy and dignity of everyone utilising these facilities.  

In addition, the bill would introduce a fine for anyone who used a single-sex toilet and was not of the sex for which that toilet had been designated.