Ms Wilde Rejects Petition Claim (Press, 28 September 1985)

In a recent debate regarding a petition concerning homosexual law reform, Ms Fran Wilde, the Member of Parliament for Wellington Central, responded strongly to claims made by Mr Graeme Lee, the National Party representative for Hauraki. Mr Lee suggested that supporters of the reform had initiated their own petition, which Wilde found "staggering." She asserted that this was not the case and had consistently advised supporters against diverting attention to a "numbers game." Wilde invited Mr Lee to visit her office to examine what she described as false signatures on the petition. She acknowledged that several MPs, including Mr Lee, had examined the petition forms and expressed interest in their findings. Regarding electoral rolls, while she agreed they can become outdated, she dismissed as "ludicrous" the idea that there could be a 60 percent failure rate in matching names with identities within just 18 months. There had been a shift in claims from the petition organisers, who initially stated that "thousands of names" were invalid, to a more modest assertion that "500 doubtful names had not been included." Wilde illustrated her concerns by mentioning bizarre signatories, including one listed as "B. Bardot," and others with names such as "Conan the Barbarian" and an address spoofing "Rasta Row, Jamaica." She initiated a verification of the signatures against the electoral rolls after the petition's organisers claimed they could accurately match names to electorates, questioning whether a master petition existed that aligned with the discrepancies found. Moreover, Mr Trevor Mallard, a member of the Labour Party representing Hamilton West, interjected in the discussion, expressing surprise that Mr Lee claimed not to have details regarding a survey conducted by the University of Waikato on the petition. Mallard stated that he had already provided Mr Lee with documentation that detailed the methodology employed in the university's demographic survey. This exchange highlights ongoing tensions in parliament concerning the legitimacy and accuracy of the petition for homosexual law reform, as various MPs scrutinise the process and the claims surrounding it. The dialogue reflects broader societal debates around the issue of homosexual law reform in New Zealand during this period in 1985.

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