MEDIA RELEASE

29 October 2000

Graham Capill
Party Leader

MORAL ISSUE NOT JUST A PROPERTY ISSUE

Party Leader Graham Capill has dismissed the retention of the terms ‘husband’, wife’ and ‘spouse’ as a “mere smokescreen against the massive attack on the traditional family unit”. The change has been made to a proposal in Supplementary Order Paper Number 25, which has now been reconstituted as the new Property (Relationships) Bill, introduced today.

Mr Capill said, “Ms Wilson is misguided in the extreme to say, ‘It’s not about moral judgements on people’s perfectly legal decisions about their relationships’. The Government has made an immoral decision to conclude that marriage, de facto and homosexual relationships should be treated the same. They are not equal and should not be treated as such.

“Clearly lawyers will be the winners. Thousands of people who deliberately rejected marriage and chose a de facto relationship, will now have to seek legal advice so as to protect their property from an unfair split that was never conceived of should their relationship break up.

“The family unit, on the other hand, will lose, as marriage can now mean almost anything. To treat heterosexual marriage the same as a homosexual relationship is a fundamental attack on the sanctity of marriage: a holy institution which has been recognised since the beginning of time as that which is best for a stable society.

“The Government has ignored 80% of the 4000 submissions made on the Justice Department’s discussion paper, ‘Same-Sex Couples and the Law’. It is clear that both National (who initiated the discussion paper) and Labour (who are introducing this as a government Bill) are arrogantly pursuing an anti-marriage agenda, which will be to the detriment of family life and morality in New Zealand.

“Christian Heritage wants to strengthen traditional marriage. It would introduce a definition of marriage, which would limit it to one man and one woman who had entered a covenant relationship for life. It would then seek special privileges for such couples. These would include tax advantages for those who choose marriage. Only in this way will traditional marriage be protected and promoted as that which is best for society,” Mr Capill concluded.

Contact: Party Leader Graham Capill, Direct Line: (03) 352 6720 or (021) 661 766

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