National leader Bill English's support for civil unions is by no means certain, despite pledging his support for the concept last year in Express newspaper. Mr English said that he had not yet seen the proposed legislation, but said “If it sets out to neutralise the law across all different sorts of relationships, as the Property Relationships Act does, I am likely to oppose it.” In response to questions from Gaynz.com regarding worldwide pressure from the Catholic Church on politicians to oppose gay-friendly legislation, Mr English said that he had not been approached by any representatives of the Catholic Church, but that the Church was free, like any lobby group, “to pressure politicians in whichever way it likes".
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 9th September 2003 - 12:00pm