AI Chat Search Browse Media On This Day Map Quotations Timeline Research Free Datasets Remembered About Contact

Anti-gay bill pulled but still live

Thu 12 May 2005 In: New Zealand Daily News

A Christian MP's bill to ban on gay marriage was due to be voted on in Parliament yesterday, but was pulled from the order paper at the last minute by its sponsor, United Future's Larry Baldock. Sources in Parliament say that after contacting parties yesterday to ascertain support for his bill, Baldock pulled it when he realised he didn't have the numbers, which has been more or less confirmed by United Future. "The reason it has been deferred it is to allow time for proper lobbying, given that it has only been on the agenda for a week or two," press secretary Mark Stewart told GayNZ.com. "It's been a very quick process." If a vote had occurred yesterday, it is unclear what the split would have been. The Green and Progressive parties confirmed they would all have voted against it, whereas National, NZ First and United Future all planned to vote in favour. ACT planned a conscience vote, with leader Rodney Hide saying that it's quite possible some of his MPs would have voted in favour of it. However, he personally is opposed to it, the only right-of-centre party leader to take such a stance. "All New Zealanders should have the same rights, full stop," he told GayNZ.com. Labour declined to comment on their position until the bill is debated in Parliament, which has now been delayed to the next session for private members bills. These only occur fortnightly, but with the imminent reading of the Budget, the anti-gay bill is unlikely to come up again in the House before 8 June.    

Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff

First published: Thursday, 12th May 2005 - 12:00pm

Rights Information

This page displays a version of a GayNZ.com article that was automatically harvested before the website closed. All of the formatting and images have been removed and some text content may not have been fully captured correctly. The article is provided here for personal research and review and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of PrideNZ.com. If you have queries or concerns about this article please email us