05 September 2005

Christian Heritage NZ will seek Marriage Protection Act

Christian Heritage NZ announced today that it will seek to introduce a Marriage Protection Act. The Act would require social and economic policy and legislation to be assessed for its impact on the institution of marriage with "marriage impact" reports being prepared for MPs to consider. CHNZ leader Ewen McQueen said the aim of the Act would be to ensure the social significance of marriage was not further undermined by Government. He said,

"The institution of marriage is foundational to strong family life. We need to do everything we can to safeguard it against government actions that may corrode support for it. That means we need to explicitly and carefully consider the impact of public policy and legislation on marriage. We do it for the environment - surely we can do it for family life."

The CHNZ leader said the Act would mean legislation such as the Prostitution Reform Act and the Civil Unions Act could not be passed without MPs first having to formally consider the effects of such legislation on marriage. He also said it would mean new tax or benefit initiatives would need to be assessed as to how they supported or undermined the institution of marriage.

Mr McQueen said the Marriage Protection Act would also require the re-instatement of the terms "husband" and "wife" on all official forms to ensure it remained visible. He said,

"The use of the term "partner" has made marriage invisible and contributed to undermining the social significance of marriage. We need to make marriage visible again on all official documents. It's an important part of restoring a marriage affirming culture."

ENDS

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