Yes

It should be based on who is the most qualified and suitable for the job not based on gender and or nationality.

Realistically, if people are running for positions that represent their country, then you want the most qualifed person for the role. If they happen to be a male, so be it, and viceversa for a female. There should be no positions in parliament given to people based on race, sex or religion.

Suitability for an occupation should be determined according to a person's suitability for that position, not what they have between their legs, regardless of actual or potential inequalities in gender representation in certain jobs.

We need skilled people in parliament. It’s not about gender it’s about skill set and ability to do a job

Most fit person deserves the job. Anyone looking at gender, age, race, religion, political stance or literally anything outside of what the quota relates to is a moron and is missing the point.

Right person for the job. Most skilled and capable at a particular role, not subject to artificial quotas which reduce the overall effectiveness of the role in question

Because being a candidate should ALWAYS only be based on your ability just like everyone else. Gender or race should NEVER be a determining factor. That's absolutely ridiculous

Employment shouldn't be about gender, race, or any other similar factor. Basing decisions like this on gender brings us back to the dark ages.

the right person for the job should be the only way to elect people they are working for us not that seems to be the case anymore ?

In an egalitarian country gender should not be a a factor when it comes to employment. Hiring the best candidate for the position based on the individual is what is most important regardless if they are man, woman, intersex, cat or dog.

It should not be about quotas - It should be about real equality. In other words the right person is given the job regardless of gender..

Preference should be based on merit not superficial characteristics such as race or gender, these attributes do not define if a person is qualified or not. If there is not enough representation from certain parts of society address the causes don't dilute quality e.g. gender paygap, longer maternity leave, zero cost tertiary for low income

Women quotas or any type of quotas are demeaning to the people who get jobs under a quota system. It should be the best person for the job

It should be the right person for the job with the right credentials rather than what they look like

It's definitely a good idea to include more women/gender diverse people in politics, but I don't agree with it being enforced.

While it is great that we have so many amazing women emerging as leaders, I am much more concerned about getting the right person in the role, rather than choosing someone based purely on their gender.

The best person should be selected for the job, whether that is more men or more women, it doesn't matter which.

Candidacy should be based on merit and be according to whom the citizens vote for not based on sex(gender).

It means the best person for the job isn't there. If 80% of the best people for the job are women, that's great. Same for men. We need competence not quotas.

I don't believe having a woman quota allows for equal representation of everyone. Woman and Men can have the same or different political opinions and does not relate to gender therefore a quota is unnecessary.

I believe this is a sexist and unhelpful idea that has been brought up. Clearly people should be picked on merit and not gender.

depending on the job like i dont want to see a fat personal trainer or a fat nutritionist. So i think get the right person for the job but im definitely not a fan of quotas.

It's discrimitory towards both woman and men. Woman are more capable than ever at securing jobs without it being regulated and whoever gets a job should get it because they are the right person and not because of anything to do with gender, race, sexuality ect. As a woman I find the idea that I need a quota in place or regulations to reach the top of any profession insulting.

This only fuels the division based on gender, and I think it assumes that a man is unable to represent a woman in politics and vice versa. Selection should be based only on quality and ability to be a good representative. Why should a worse candidate get in just because of her gender. It also opens up other possibilites. If we did this for women why not for theythems or for every other race.

Quota systems breed separatist ideals. Roles should always be filled by the most qualified for the position in any facet of society. Limiting or requiring a fixed percentage of roles filled based on race, gender, religion or any of measure will never provide a healthy result and will instead contribute to a divide between people/groups.

People should be put forward to represent parties based on their ability to better the party and New Zealand not their gender. It should be fair and the best people get the job regardless of gender. I do believe women shouldn't have to work harder for the same job it should all be equal playing fields.

Whether it be a political candidate or a job role, the position should always be given to the person who is most qualified. As someone who has always taken pride in striving for a better career, I have always taken it upon myself to better myself in order to gain this. It wouldn’t in sense me if I were to be given a role purely, for example, my skin color or sexual orientation but not my suitability or skill set for the given role. If we truly believe there is a gender imbalance in both the political sphere and employment sphere, perhaps we’d ought to look at why there are more or less of either men or women in certain industries and encourage both genders to undertake some learning in these industries where one or the other gender is less represented.

People should be chosen for a job/possition based from the quality of their character and skill, not their sex.

Different industries in different areas will always have a different mix of genders applying due to a range of reasons, therefore fair hiring practices will almost always lead to a gender imbalance one way or the other. We must always keep watch and assess to make sure our hiring practices are fair and non-discriminatory but implementing quotas will lead to less qualified candidates being hired. This hurts the company and the other workers, ultimately hurting our GDP.

It should be based on who's the most qualified for the job/position. Not based on having a 50/50 split. Because if it was to be based on a 50/50 split then it should be across all sectors and not just politics. But we all know that can't happen.

Id like a world where sex isn't considered for any field (teaching or arbour) only ability and performance

There are no rights that women don’t hold anymore if a woman wants to get into parliament they can get into parliament for god sakes the two biggest party’s were lead by women last election the facts are right in front of you peoples face and you decide to act blind

Male and female portfolios + experience should be submitted anonymously for an initial vote, then re-assessed for a second vote and the differences between the two decisions made public. We should be hiring the best candidate rather than filling a quota, it would be interesting to see how people's opinions change post identity reveal. That being said, experience may be in the favour of males, and politicians may be aware of each other's prior history.

If a political party want to win an election they’re going to have a decent amount of female MPs anyway to represent near half of the population that are female.

In order for there to be equality, there should be no quotas needed on a percent of people being a certain sex.

I don't understand what Quotas is but if it's context includes forcing people to allow women to be in office then I'll have to disagree, however I do have to do extra education on what Quotas means

I think biologically we are different and enjoy different things, it should be fair and the best people get the job regardless of gender. I do believe women shouldn't have to work harder for the same job it should all be equal playing fields.

People should be put forward to represent parties based on their ability to better the party and New Zealand not their gender.

Why should Sex or gender matter?, Competence should be the only or at least the most important factor

The best people should get in no matter their sex, race, or ethnicity. Quotas just serve to advance underqualified people while holding qualified people back because of things outside their control.

quotas means inefficiency becuase no one industry is ever represented naturally (or desirable) by 50/50 males / females

Have a percentage is pointing out diversity and will split the work place as some woman will get the job only cause of their sex and not because of their ability for the job. You also run the risk that men may hire a woman that doesn’t know anything which he keeps in the background.

Forcing quotas only diminishes the value of that field, we should value people for their abilities and not geneder

There are more righteous woman that can be added,substituting for males only is discrimination on the woman qouta

Woman are amazing, they bring life and babies into this world with there strength. They are intelligent and have can do anything if not more than men. So we don't need to hold positions for them as they are more than capable of taking those places for themselves.

The inequality starts from the ground up, you need to fix the ground by which inequality starts, that starts from preschool up, all subconscious and conscious bias that a minority group faces from the day they are treat differently generate traits and behaviours that limit one’s ability to grow. Quotas down the line won’t help or work, we need to sort small early quotas on things like children’s sports, activities etc so by the time they reach their teens and young adulthood everyone is competent or at-least had the same opportunity to be competent, by the time it comes to working life and young adulthood the best person will pull ahead dispute quotas because money is the only driver of success, business is competitive, being man, woman, or of any cultural background have no effect when money is at stake.

We should instead implement male quotas. Women can do anything just as good as men, but for 30% less money. Capturing the free market economy, Slay Queen!

We lack capability in politicians in NZ as it is, by introducing a quota this could negatively impact on well qualified candidates being passed over for potentially less qualified ones just because of a quota

I think males shouldn't be disadvantaged purely based on their sex/gender - i.e., qualities they cant change/control