Unions & Omnibus Bills – Sidelining Marriage

The upcoming Civil Unions Bill and associated Omnibus Bill will complete the process of sidelining the institution of marriage in our society.

Christian Heritage NZ leader Mr Ewen McQueen said today that successive governments had implemented policies that had eroded the legal and social significance of marriage. These latest Bills were aimed at completing the process by stripping marriage of any last vestige that it retained of it is unique legal status.

The CHNZ leader said the Civil Union Bill will create an alternative to marriage with the same legal status, but without the same cultural connotations of lifelong commitment. The Omnibus Bill will then follow through by removing reference to the terms marriage, husband and wife, from over a hundred pieces of legislation.

Mr McQueen said there was no good rationale for sidelining marriage, and every reason for retaining its status. He said that those who asserted that this legislation was needed to fulfil the non-discrimination requirements of the Human Rights Act were missing the point. He stated,

“ The argument that we must pass these Bills so that people are treated as equals regardless of marital status is fundamentally flawed. It confuses the issue of whether people are of equal value (which goes without saying) with the question of what types of relationship produce the best outcomes. A large amount of social research now demonstrates that the formal, public, lifelong commitment defined by marriage produces significantly better outcomes for family life. As such it should be encouraged by government policy – not marginalised and stripped of all social significance. “

The CHNZ leader said the Government’s obsession with removing so called discrimination is actually nothing more than a desire to instil in our culture the idea that all types of relationships are essentially the same and worthy of Government recognition. Marriage is now to be considered no different from any other type of relationship, regardless of what degree of commitment is involved and regardless of what we know about the poorer outcomes achieved by the alternatives. Mr McQueen said,

“ It is this sort of thinking that has delivered a whole generation of New Zealand children to dysfunctional households - households where mum’s latest boyfriend comes and goes, where the risk of abuse is significantly increased and where poverty often prevails. It has been a disaster for our children and our Prime Minister now wants to drive the ideology home. But our children don’t need ideology. They need mums and dads who are committed to each other – for life.”

Ewen McQueen

Party Leader

Christian Heritage NZ

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