Australians Lawrence Jordan and Harvey Streager have been together for 30 years, but they had to fly the Tasman to tie the knot. The pair, from Geelong in Victoria, are among about 700 couples who have made civil unions since they were introduced in April 2005. Fifeteen friends and family – most of them from Australia – joined them at a private Wellington ceremony recently. They chose formal Indian outfits, as Streager, 52, wears his suit as a lawyer. “We thought it was important to have state recognition for our relationship, even though it was not in Australia,” Jordan, 51, a teacher, said. “I suppose you could say it's a political statement as well… “The federal government in Australia and the opposition aren't very supportive of it at the moment.” Their civil union was not recognized under Australian federal law but would be recognised by countries with similar laws to New Zealand's, such as Britain. Jordan said New Zealand's “progressive law reform” could have unexpected spinoffs. “It must be good for New Zealand's tourist economy to have Australians coming over for civil unions. Generous amounts of money were spent by all.” The pair felt very welcome in Wellington. “It was a very lovely ceremony in a beautiful garden city.” Their celebrant, Raewyn Anderson, said it was the first time she had joined an overseas couple in a civil union. “These guys have gone to a big effort to come to New Zealand so I was very pleased for them.” Internal Affairs Department figures show 694 couples tied the civil union knot between 26 April 2005, when the civil union law came into effort, and 10 December last year. Of course, 308 were female-female unions and 257 male-male. A further 129 were between men and women, including three who switched their relationship from marriage. In the same period, 32,883 marriages were registered – including one changed from a civil union. Labour MP Tim Barnett, who drove the introduction of civil unions, said numbers were not the issue. But they did show civil unions were neither irrelevant not threatening the institution of marriage. “The fact that … heterosexual couples are using them as well shows it's not simply just a ghetto institution for gay people.” Barnett and his partner are preparing for their own civil union in November. Ref: Dominion Post (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 10th January 2007 - 12:00pm