According to today's NZ Herald, Peter Dunne and Gerry Brownlee want to exclude Tim Barnett from assessment of the Civil Union Bill due to his prior role in its formulation. Well, if we're going to talk about conflicts of interests, shouldn't Messrs Brownlee and Dunne also eliminate several members of their own caucuses from any active assessment role in these proceedings, before they accuse the chair of the Justice Select Committee of bias over performance of his duties? I am referring to the Maxim Institute's anti-CUB seminar at the Milford Baptist Church, where Paul Adams was one of the panel speakers, and where he voiced his opinion that homosexuality should be recriminalised, according to a transcript available on Russell Brown's excellent Hard News online commentary (16 June 2004) at Publicaddress.Net. I am referring to Larry Baldock's similar frontline role at Focus on the Family New Zealand's anti-CUB "Marriage Matters" tour in late May 2004. And Mr Brownlee should similarly rule Wayne Mapp out of consideration from any further assessment of the Civil Union Bill because of his panelist attendance at the same Maxim Institute Milford Baptist anti-CUB seminar that Adams attended. It seems that for these gentlemen, bias is in the eye of the beholder... Recommended Reading: http://www.marriagematters.co.nz FOFNZ's Marriage Matters website http://www.publicaddress.net Russell Brown's online news commentary service Craig Young - 18th June 2004