New Petition If Bill Passed (Press, 1 November 1985)
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Summary: New Petition If Bill Passed (Press, 1 November 1985)
On 1 November 1985, the organisers of a petition opposing the Homosexual Law Reform Bill in New Zealand announced plans for a new campaign if the bill were to pass. The National MP for Invercargill, Mr Norman Jones, expressed doubt about the bill's likelihood of moving through its final stages but indicated that if it did pass, he, along with petition leaders Mr Keith Hay and Sir Peter Tait, would initiate a sophisticated petition aiming for its repeal. Mr Jones stated that he would present a new petition next week featuring around 18,000 signatures, which would raise the total to over 831,000. The bill's second reading is scheduled to conclude on 6 November, and Mr Jones predicted it would pass by a margin of eight to ten votes. Following this, the bill would enter committee stages, where he maintained hope for its defeat. He noted that 36 MPs opposed every clause of the bill, while supporters totalled only 34. This situation made the votes of those with mixed opinions on the bill's clauses particularly critical. One contentious issue was the proposed consenting age of 16; Mr Jones suggested that attempts to amend the age to 18 or 20 would likely fail. It was expected that the vote would ultimately boil down to a choice of "16 or nothing", leaving the outcome uncertain. If the Homosexual Law Reform Bill were to become law, Mr Jones revealed that the new petition would use a computerised electoral roll to facilitate signature collection. Plans were in place to deploy around 500 canvassers across each electorate next year, with the expectation that these individuals would need to contact only 40 to 50 people each to gather support. Mr Jones concluded that the campaign would be positioned as an electoral issue, reinforcing their commitment to mobilise public opposition in the event of the bill's passage.
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