Thu 9 Feb 2017 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Human Rights Commissioner Richard Tankersley believes Justice Minster Amy Adams has shown “strong leadership” in the decision to quash historic homosexual convictions. Human Rights Commissioner Richard Tankersley In July last year the Commission stated that it would “encourage the Government to start a restitution process, such as a ministerial inquiry, that would see all pre-Act conviction files reviewed to identify those who received a conviction for what would now be lawful under the Act.” Tankersley at the time said “This would enable the Government to take proactive steps to pardon [or void the conviction] of those people and avoid a reactive case-by-case decision-making process, which would likely be a drawn-out, costly and difficult process for these people and their families.” The Commission welcomes historic conviction quashing announcement which Tankersley says will go a long way towards restoring the human rights of those whose lives have been affected by convictions for gay sex before the Homosexual Law Reform Act was introduced in 1986. “I’m delighted that the Minister has shown strong leadership in her proposal to fix what has been a blight on the lives and memories of hundreds of people who ran afoul of an unjust Victorian law,” he says. “I'm also very pleased to see reports of support from this from parties across the House. “For many of those affected by these convictions, today’s announcement will be life changing. I look forward to hearing the details of how the process will work for applicants or their families.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 9th February 2017 - 3:19pm