There's an election in just a couple of months, and while the unmentionable sporting event is distracting a lot of people, some are beginning to find out where the parties stand on various issues, so as to decide where to cast their vote. One of these groups is Rainbow Wellington, who asked the major parties where they stood on its priority issues, including adoption reform and same-sex marriage. Only a single party did not support immediate reform of our outdated adoption laws. The outlier? National:
"We are currently running a very full justice agenda focused on making New Zealand safer, putting more police on the streets, and reducing crime. In the context of the current economic environment reform of adoption laws is not a priority for the Government," National says.I don't know about you, but I expect governments to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, and pass human rights legislation while managing the economy. Clearly National expects rather less of its Ministers.The party's response on the issue of full marriage rights is in the same vein, with it stating: "In the context of the current economic environment and our strong focus on providing stability, reducing debt, and returning to surplus by 2014 the government currently has no plans to amend the Marriage Act."
The full responses are here. Don Brash's response on same-sex marriage is particularly interesting; charitably, it shows elderly incomprehension. Less charitably, it shows that he really is a bigot underneath his platitudes of freedom. Either way, if you care about this issue, he's not worth voting for, and given that it contains John Banks, neither is his party.
