The passage of the Relationships Bill, which removes discrimination against same-sex couples from the law books, has been welcomed by the MPs who shepherded it through with a roughly two-thirds majority. Tim Barnett hailed the passage of the bill as the final act in a 28-year battle to end discrimination against people in relationships outside marriage. "Finally we are following the rules we set a generation ago. In passing the Civil Union Act and now this Relationships Bill, we are playing catch-up with the rest of society." Associate Justice Minister David Benson-Pope says it reiterates the Government's commitment to human rights, but thanked his Parliamentary colleagues from all parties who supported the legislation. "There is no place in New Zealand society for this kind of discrimination," he says. "These Bills were always about justice and fairness and Parliament was right to back them." The only sour political note was struck by the Christian Heritage Party, whose leader Ewen McQueen said the bill showed the anti-discrimination provisions of the Human Rights Act to be "an ass". "If we are required to lower the recognised standards of commitment in our relationship culture simply to be consistent with the Human Rights Act, then the Human Rights Act is clearly an impediment to social progress. At the very least marital status should be removed from being one of the prohibited grounds for discrimination."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 16th March 2005 - 12:00pm