Labour says fathers no longer need to be men

National Party Leader Bill English says Labour's new Care of Children Bill creates female fathers.

Section 17 (2) of the new legislation, which was introduced to Parliament last night, says "to avoid doubt a reference in this section (or elsewhere in this Act) to 'the father of a child' is a reference to the same sex defacto partner of the mother of the child."

"This section effectively declares that the legal definition of a father is to be changed to include women," says Mr English.

"I find this kind of social engineering objectionable and so will many people who believe our laws should reflect common sense.

"In my culture fathers are men and no amount of wishful thinking by bureaucrats or Labour politicians will change that," says Mr English.

"I'm appalled that male cabinet members have meekly gone along with this absurd political correctness," he says.

"This would be funny if it wasn't so serious.

"If the Labour Government has to provide a set of rules for same sex couples, then it doesn't need to attack and undermine fatherhood to do it," Mr English says.

"It makes a mockery of the most important relationships that we have with our mother and father.

"While this new law may remove doubt for lawyers it will create real problems for children who find that some have fathers who are men and some don't," says Mr English.

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