National's justice spokesman Richard Worth is to table an amendment to the Civil Union Bill that would effectively rubber-stamp incestuous unions. The intent of the proposal is to change the name of the Bill to the Civil Relationships Bill and extend its coverage to "non-intimate" relationships, such as that between two elderly sisters living together. However, Worth told the NZ Herald that his amendment allows any two people to enter a "civil relationship" with the state, effectively allowing for the incestuous unions that the religious right has argued that recognising gay couples would lead to. Worth says his proposal has big support both from National's caucus and leader Don Brash. If the claim is true, the party have seemingly forgotten overnight their previous position that the issue surrounding civil unions is so huge it needs a public referendum. Worth voted against the Civil Union Bill at its second reading, which also casts doubt on his commitment to amending the legislation. The vast majority of the National Party voted with him, with only 3 of its 27 MPs voting in favour. The House of Lords and backbench Conservative MPs attempted twice to amend Britain's Civil Partnerships Bill in a similar way to Worth's proposal. The move was quickly labelled a "wrecking" manoeuvre and abandoned before the Bill was passed with a huge majority.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 4th December 2004 - 12:00pm