While National has ruled out repealing civil union legislation, it hasn't said whether it still intends to ban same-sex marriage. As has been said repeatedly, same-sex marriage bans are a waste of time. Quilter v Attorney General [1998] has never been overruled, so any same-sex marriage ban would be superfluous when they have no legal status anyway. Moreover, Larry Baldock's proposed private members bill goes too far in talking about weakening the Bill of Rights to accomodate fundamentalist enthusiasms. The Solicitor-General was right to reject it. In any case, such a ban would be purely cosmetic. As the Bill of Rights isn't entrenched, it would take no more than a renewed Labour Government to repeal it. Moreover, the Christian Right would have to contend with 'cohort creep' which means opposition to same-sex marriage will diminish on generational cohort grounds. I never cease to marvel at gay Nats who reject civil unions on the basis that they aren't same-sex marriage, then remain silent about their party's support for the Baldock Bill. Labour thought it was a DOMB idea to smash a peanut with a sledgehammer. Why doesn't National? Recommended: http://www.nzvotes.org New Zealand Votes (Maxim Institute) http://www.national.org.nz National Party http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz UFNZ Quilter v Attorney General [1998] 1 NZLR 523+ Craig Young - 12th September 2005