The civil rights of same-sex couples could be up for grabs under a National-led government, with the party refusing to answer whether they will repeal or seek a referendum on the Civil Union Act if pressured by a coalition partner to do so. The party has issued conflicting statements on the future of the Civil Union Act over the past few weeks. Leader Don Brash told TV2 gay show The Outhouse that there was zero chance of a referendum on civil unions, but the NZ Herald has reported in recent days that he still supports the idea. Family spokesperson Judith Collins has indicated she would like to amend the Act to exclude heterosexual couples. With many of the minor parties indicating that they would seek a repeal or significant amendments to the Civil Union Act, or at the very least a referendum, GayNZ.com asked for a definitive National Party statement on the issue and did not get one. We asked the office of leader Don Brash whether: (a) National will be making any amendments to the Civil Union Act if it forms the next government, and if so, what will these be; (b) whether National will hold a referendum on the repeal and/or amendment of the Civil Union Act; (c) whether National will amend the Marriage Act to exclude same-sex couples specifically; and (d) whether National would agree to any of the above options if a minor party coalition partner requires it? Our answer came not from Dr Brash, but from family spokesperson Judith Collins, who answered via email: “The Civil Union Act was a conscience vote for National MPs not a party issue. National has no plan to change the legislation. We are focused on the important issues this election.” When GayNZ.com pointed out that Collins had not actually answered our questions, she replied: “The answer is the same for each of the questions. A conscience vote is a conscience vote.” Most alarmingly, in response to the question about demands from coalition partners, she answered: “Any coalition talk is premature and will be addressed after the Election.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Helen Clark told a Grey Power meeting in Kapiti today that Labour would not be amending the Marriage Act. Clark was asked whether marriage between a man and a woman would remain sacrosanct, Newstalk ZB reported. She replied that even though the Marriage Act is discriminatory it is not going to be changed because most people support it.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 14th September 2005 - 12:00pm