Radical lesbian and feminist factions within the Labour Party are seeking to destroy the New Zealand family, according to ACT MP Muriel Newman. In an online commentary Newman claims these factions' extreme antifamily agenda has been "a significant force driving the Party and parts of the public service, for more than thirty years... they believe that the family as we know it should be destroyed and replaced with economic and social institutions that are 'superior'." The senior ACT MP further claims that this agenda is responsible for Labour "elevating every other form of relationship to the same status in law as marriage" and why last year the government refused to sign up to the UN Doha Declaration on the Family, "which seeks to support the traditional family and encourage marriage." Newman does not mention that the Doha Declaration, which would have ruled out legally recognised unions for same-sex couples, was also rejected by many other nations and the European Union.