10 August 2005

Don't Rely on National for Family Values

Christian Heritage NZ leader Ewen McQueen has called on Christians not to rely on the National party to progress a family values agenda. He pointed out that on the abortion issue in particular it would be "business as usual" if National became the government - just as it was the last time they held office. Speaking to a meeting of pastors in Motueka, McQueen noted,

"Whilst National was in office from 1990 to 1999, it oversaw the death of 117,803 children in abortion clinics. It took no substantive legislative or policy steps to address this. In fact it allocated budget to undertake the abortions every year. No National MP ever crossed the floor in protest."

The CHNZ leader said the sanctity of human life was a key issue for New Zealand and if there was ever going to be positive change Christians needed to vote with their convictions on the matter. He also pointed out that:

· National oversaw the introduction of the Human Rights Act in 1993. Its anti-discrimination provisions have been pivotal to every piece of liberal legislation that has followed.

· National introduced the De-Facto Relationships Property Bill in 1998. This was subsequently picked up by Labour and turned in to the Property Relationships Act - a major step in undermining the unique legal status of marriage.

· Dr Brash voted for liberalising prostitution, and initially supported the introduction of civil unions. He eventually voted against it saying there should be a referendum.

· Chris Finlayson is a lawyer placed at no.27 on the National party list (likely to get into Parliament). He is open about his homosexuality and says "It is not an issue as far as I am concerned, nor is it an issue for the leader or president" (NBR 24th June - Capital lawyer seeks Hanan's liberal mandate).

McQueen said these facts clearly showed that National was not going to be a standard bearer for Christian/family values in New Zealand. In fact it was likely to simply be a paler version of Labour when it came to liberal social policy.

The CHNZ leader acknowledged that given the last six years of aggressively liberal legislation from Labour, it was not surprising that many in the Christian community were attracted by the National party slogan - "Change the Govt". However McQueen said Christians should have a longer term focus on what was needed to change the nation. He stated,

" We don't just need to change the government, we need to change the nation. That will require people in Parliament who have real conviction; people who will pro-actively pursue a pro-marriage, pro-family and pro-life agenda. We can't expect that from the National Party. It's not part of their platform and it's clearly not something they would have the conviction to attempt anyway. "

ENDS

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