The civil union vote in Parliament could be very close, as a number of MPs have expressed major reservations about the bill. It is not clear what those reservations are. The NZ Herald has named eight Labour MPs expected to vote against the bill. They are: Taito Phillip Field, Dover Samuels, Clayton Cosgrove, Damien O'Connor, Harry Duynhoven, Janet Mackey, Paul Swain and John Tamihere. Tamihere described himself as a “red-blooded Kiwi male” on radio last week. Labour MP Chris Carter yesterday said he would be lobbying other Labour MPs who were against the bill. "Its been in our policy since 1999 and, in fact, in our pledge card when we join the Labour Party we guarantee that we will not discriminate against people on race, religion or sexual orientation," he said. "So, quite frankly, I find it difficult to understand how any Labour member couldn't support that." Meanwhile, two NZ First MPs will defy leader Winston Peters and vote for the Bill. Brian Donnelly and Ron Mark will support the bill at least in its first stage.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 23rd June 2004 - 12:00pm