John Key is in when it comes to attending the Big Gay Out, but it's quite the opposite when it comes to adoption and same-sex marriage While all parties agree wide-ranging changes are needed for outdated adoption laws, the party which leads the incumbent Government is making it clear updating the legislation sits very low on its list of priorities. In response to pre-election questions from lobby group Rainbow Wellington, National says it's aware of the issues with the Adoption Act, saying it's an old piece of legislation and has been identified as an area for potential review. "We are currently running a very full justice agenda focused on making New Zealand safer, putting more police on the streets, and reducing crime. In the context of the current economic environment reform of adoption laws is not a priority for the Government," National says. The party's response on the issue of full marriage rights is in the same vein, with it stating: "In the context of the current economic environment and our strong focus on providing stability, reducing debt, and returning to surplus by 2014 the government currently has no plans to amend the Marriage Act." The responses come ahead of Rainbow Wellington's Election Candidates' Forum on Wednesday 12 October from 6PM at Wellesley Boutique Hotel. Full details here The speakers confirmed so far are Kevin Hague (Greens), Charles Chauvel (Labour), Paul Foster-Bell (National candidate for Wellington Central) and Peter Dunned (United Future). ACT and the Maori Party are planning on sending representatives, but have not yet confirmed who. You can read the rest of National's responses to pre-election questions on glbt issues, as well as the responses of most of the other significant parties, here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 4th October 2011 - 2:24pm