Wednesday, May 30, 2012



Where MP's stand on marriage equality

Kurt Sharpe of New Zealand for Marriage Equality has put together a spreadsheet of where our MPs stand on marriage equality. So far, it shows 46 in favour, 19 against, 4 undecided, and 52 unknowns. As for the distribution, its pretty much what we expect: the Greens, Maori Party and most of Labour are in favour, and most of National are bigots (or don't even want to talk about it).

There are some surprises. I didn't know that Rajen Prasad was a bigot, and I'm appalled that a man with such an impressive human rights background could be so backward about sexual orientation. As for David Cunliffe, I'd expected a lot better from him as well. [note: see update below - I/S]

(Labour meanwhile continues to tolerate Damien O'Connor and Ross Robertson, both old-fashioned bigots who have consistently voted against equality. Such people have no place in a party committed to equality).

The good news is that there are six National MPs in favour so far: Amy Adams, Chester Borrows, Tau Henare, Nikki Kaye, John Key, and Jami-Lee Ross. Add in NZ First's Denis O'Rourke, and we're halfway there in terms of National votes we need. That's not enough of course, but with so many unknowns, its a good start.

Update: The file has now been updated; Cunliffe is now a "yes" (as is National's Colin King), and Goff is now a "no". I'm pleased that Cunliffe has changed his mind. As for Goff, again I have to ask: why does Labour tolerate bigots?

Update II (7/6/2012): And Goff has now moved back to the "yes" column. Sadly, Prasad, O'Connor and Robertson are still bigots