It was deja vu in Parliament yesterday as the same opposition MPs used the same lines they've been using for the last year to attack the Relationships Bill, which confers on couples in civil unions all the rights and responsibilites of marriage. The key argument from opponents was that the bill, which confers on same-sex couples who enter a civil union the same protections for themsleves and their families as heterosexuals in marriage, was "anti-family". NZ First MP Dail Jones said the bill only existed to "please the coterie of homosexuals and lesbians who surround the prime minister", National's Nick Smith used the bill to accuse the government of "the most anti-family in this country's history", while ACT's Stephen Franks labelled it a “pantomime of marriage". United Future MP Murray Smith continued his attacks on the bill, in spite of being publicly supportive of a private members bill from Georgina Beyer that would amend the Human Rights Act to protect transgenders. Labour MP Judith Tizard said the opponents should “care about people instead of scrabbling around like rats in a cupboard looking for a few votes”. However, despite the always-noisy opponents, the NZPA reports the bill seems assured of a safe passage.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 9th March 2005 - 12:00pm