Kevin Hague The government has been accused of "moral cowardice" over its lack of support for a move by Australia to highlight the criminality and brutal treatment of homosexuals in most Commonwealth countries. Green Party spokesperson Kevin Hague says he is "deeply disturbed" at the silence from Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully on the initiative from Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd - which has been publicly supported by Canada - to use the forthcoming Comonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting to tackle those Commonwealth countries where homosexual behaviour are still criminalised. "I guess none of us imagined that a John Key-led government would show any actual leadership in world affairs, but the government's deafening silence when called upon just to support another country's initiative suggests a moral cowardice of the worst order" "There is an overwhelming moral imperative to use our friendly relations with other Commonwealth countries to call them to account on this fundamental human rights issue. Yet successive New Zealand governments have effectively made a passive choice to turn a blind eye to it. That was bad enough. The difference here is that this looks like an active choice to do so." Hague, one of New Zealand's most visible and vocal gay MPs, says he is calling on John Key to dispel the appearance of not caring by staking out a clear position to support the Australian initiative Foreign Minister Murray McCully is representing New Zealand at CHOGM and has not yet responded to last week's request from GayNZ.com Daily News for comment on New Zealand's stance on the issue. New Zealand's silence comes soon after the National-led government said it would not be progressing calls for changes to New Zealand's archaic adoption laws which do not allow same-sex couples to jointly adopt children, even the children of one partner in the relationship. The law is an anomaly under New Zealand's human rights protections which say all people must be treated equally and that discrimination on the basis of sexuality is illegal. Prime Minister Key, who has eagerly embraced opportunities to be photographed with glbti people at the annual Big Gay Out, says providing this equal right to same-sex couples is "not a priority." In its Rainbow Issues policy issued in the lead-up to the General Election the Labour Party says it will leagalise adoption by same-sex couples. Lesbian Labour MP Maryan Street told the recent GABA political forum taking a forthright and glbt-positive stance in international affairs is a basic principle of her party.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 30th October 2011 - 6:49pm