National's deputy leader Gerry Brownlee has refuted suggestions that he is looking to take down the Civil Unions bill with the full support of the National Party. Brownlee says the text of a speech he made at a National Party conference, reproduced on the party's website, which implied the Civil Unions bill was the next piece of government legislation that National had in its sights to take down has been misinterpreted. The speech text said National had fought and won a number of “important battles on many fronts”, and that the Civil Union bill would soon join other pieces of Government legislation that were “all but dead in the water”. “But there are many more battles to be fought and won by your loyal Opposition,” it continued. “We will continue working for you. We are under no illusion – there is a long way to go and not much time, but we have started strongly.” Brownlee says the speech is actually in reference to the Government backing down on civil unions, rather than National attacking them, and that he firmly believes the bill will never see the light of day. “My strong pick is that this bill will not be introduced to House anytime soon,” he says. “The Prime Minister's speech to the House at the start of the year trumpeted this as one of the cornerstone pieces of social legislation, and it's just slipped from one session to the next. As far as we know it hasn't even been drafted."