National MP Richard Worth's incest amendment to the Civil Union Bill is an ill-conceived strategy to wreck it, says Associate Justice Minister David Benson-Pope. Worth's amendment, which would strip the Civil Union Bill of any ceremonial component and open it up to any two people in any sort of relationship – including siblings – is not even an original idea. A handful of backbench Tory MPs in Britain attempted a similar amendment to Britain's Civil Partnerships Bill, but were not supported by the Conservative Party leader Michael Howard, who voted in favour of the Bill. "Civil unions are an option for people in de facto relationships wishing to make a formal commitment to each other and so gain social and legal recognition for their relationship," says Benson-Pope. "[Worth's] idea is an attempt to deny recognition to these relationships and therefore to deny these people the dignity of that recognition." Benson-Pope is also rejecting an amendment which would put the issue to a binding public referendum, saying that the idea of using referenda to decide on issues such as these was rejected by a Royal Commission on the Electoral System back in 1986. "This is because referenda couldbe used for the expression of popular prejudices and to enforce the dominance of the majority," says Benson-Pope. "I think among most MPs there is a realisation that the call for a referendum is a last gasp effort of those who have been unsuccessful at convincing the majority this bill isn't a good idea."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 7th December 2004 - 12:00pm