John and Alma Sax The property developer behind an infamous anti-civil union letter which made false claims about gay couples abusing and even killing their children has announced a major South Auckland housing project, which may include a school. Rich Lister John Sax has told the New Zealand Herald the Mangere complex of 1,600 homes will include a “wellness centre", a family centre, an employment centre, a preschool and possibly a private school. "We will target on providing wrap-around support and care of people, so we will generally have about 75 per cent robust, well-adjusted family units, and a percentage of those that will be able to support others that are struggling.” Sax, a devout and conservative Christian, says he has been evaluating the running of schools by UK-based Christian organisation Oasis. Sax is the founder of For the Sake of Our Children Trust and during the 2004 civil union campaign he penned a letter to all MPs which falsely claimed same-sex parents were more likely than straight ones to abuse and kill their children. Then-Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard, who also co-signed the letter, later apologised, saying he had not personally seen any such statistics but had relied on Sax's statements being true. The letter was also signed by Sax's wife Alma, author Alan "piss off, queers" Duff, Ian and Mary Grant of Parenting with Confidence, then-Air NZ chief executive Ralph Norris and his wife Pam and Mick Brown who at the time was Pro-Vice Chancellor of Auckland University but had been a Family Court judge.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 11th July 2014 - 2:00pm