Money matters:

A Shortland Street surgeon toughens up when she learns that she is getting paid less than her male predecessor for doing the same job. Kerry Harvey reports.

Shorty Street highlights the gender pay gap.

Ferndale’s Sooky Eyes is no more. Actress Ngahuia Piripi says she has cried more than enough tears as Dr Esther Samuels and is hoping that her character’s evolution into a strong career woman will inspire other people.

The 30-year-old actor has been at the heart of the Shortland Street storyline designed to raise awareness of the gender pay gap that persists in New Zealand nearly 50 years after the passing of the Equal Pay Act in 1972. Figures indicate that women earn around nine per cent less than men but the difference rises to 20 per cent for M ori women. Samuels challenges hospital CEO Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) when she learns that despite taking over as the hospital’s head of surgery from Boyd Rolleston (Sam Bunkall), she is being paid a lot less than her predecessor was to do the same job. “I loved that Esther was just really backing herself,” Piripi says, adding it was only thanks to Chris’ personal assistant Desdemona Schmidt (Kura Forrester) “accidentally on purpose” showing her Boyd’s contract that Esther discovered the discrepancy. For Piripi, Desi’s actions highlighted what could be part of the problem – a national reticence over talking about what we earn. “I don’t know why, but (asking someone what they are paid) is a very personal question usually,” she says. “I don’t really like to share the information. I mean, I’ve got a sister who’s an accountant, but I don’t get her to do my accounts for that very reason.” That said, Piripi says while she knew there were some wage and salary

discrepancies in New Zealand, she chose not to research too deeply because she wanted to go through the experience at the same time as her character.

“I’m the kind of person who can get quite emotional, and so I try to keep it very real to what my character is going through in that moment.

“I find giving myself too much information can lead me astray and what I wanted to do was just tell it as Esther’s story and Esther’s story only but, hopefully, in a way that it may inspire others to back themselves in the same way that Esther did.”

When it came to playing strong and confident Esther, Piripi took inspiration from her stepmother Dr Papaarangi Reid who heads Auckland University’s Department of M ori Health at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.

“My stepmum is an awesome, beautiful, very strong M ori lady,” she says. “She’s quite similar to what I imagined Esther being like, a real-life example for me.”

The niece of Dr TK Samuel (Ben Mitchell), Esther arrived at Shortland Street Hospital in 2015 not long after graduating from medical school. Since then, her career has taken a back seat to her personal life. The young doctor has dealt with everything from domestic violence and severe health issues to rape and single motherhood with the arrival of baby Kiwa.

“It’s nice to have something career focused for a change, rather than it being about the love triangle or family problems, you know, all the dramatic stuff,” Piripi says.

However, while Esther stands strong on her employment contract, she still worries about combining her career responsibilities with her role as a mum.

Piripi, who had her daughter Owairea when she was 19, empathises with that struggle to be the best at your job and as a parent.

“I went through a separation and, at that time my daughter’s dad had moved out of town, my mum had moved out of town, all my typical support networks that I depended on had all moved out of town at the same time,” she says.

“It’s not like you can just call Shortland Street and say, ‘Hey, my kid’s sick, I’m not going to come in and do those scenes. Is that all right?’ I really, really struggled with it, in all honesty, but it’s something that I think when you’re a mum, you just can’t help but navigate your way through regardless, because you don’t have any choice. And I like to think I’ve come out the other side smiling now.”

Piripi is now in a relationship with her former co-star Teone Kahu (who played Dr Hawks Logan), who she says steps up if Owairea is sick.

“I’m very, very fortunate that at the moment, I’m living my dream job and I feel like everything’s going great for me. But, unfortunately, it’s not the same for everyone in New Zealand, especially M ori women.”

“I’m very, very fortunate that at the moment, I’m living my dream job and I feel like everything’s going great for me.” – Ngahuia Piripi