Destiny NZ Rejects Labours Allegations of Untruths
Destiny New Zealand leader Richard Lewis has rejected a Labour Party press statement alleging the party to be
communicating untruths. Destiny New Zealand believes the Civil Union and Prostitution Bills to be Labour Party
initiatives and Labour has taken exception.
A statement released by Labour today said because the Civil Union and Prostitution Acts were private members Bills that
they are not a reflection of Labour Party policy. But Mr Lewis says Labour’s collective voting record says otherwise.
“Both of these Bills (Civil Union and Prostitution) were authored by senior Labour party ministers and put to a
conscience vote. The combined voting record of Labour’s members clearly demonstrates it was the driving force behind the
Bills,” said Mr Lewis.
45 out of 51 Labour members voted in support of the Civil Union Bill while 40 out of 51 voted in favour of the
Prostitution Bill, with one member abstaining (Shoudhary). Labour MP Tim Barnett said in the preliminary stages of the
Civil Union Bill, that Labour MP’s who vote against the Bill would be reneging on a party pledge, “Its (Civil Union
Bill) been in our policy since 1999 and, in fact, in our pledge card when we join the Labour Party”, were Barnett’s
comments.
Mr Lewis also noted that over 90 percent of submissions received from the public opposed the Civil Union Bill, but were
ignored by the Select Committee Chairman Tim Barnett and Prime Minister Clark who also voted in favour of both Bills.
“The combination of these factors clearly demonstrates that the only element of untruthfulness is on the part of
Labour,” he added.