The title of this recording is "Grant Robertson". It was recorded in Wellington Town Hall, 101 Wakefield Street, Wellington on the 16th March 2011. Grant Robertson is being interviewed by Jim Whitman.  Their names are spelt correctly but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 2 minutes. A list of correctly spelt content keywords and tags can be found at the end of this document. A brief description of the recording is: In this podcast MP Grant Robertson talks about attending the human rights conference. The content in the recording covers the 2010s decade. A brief summary of the recording is: This summary reflects the content of a recorded interview with Member of Parliament Grant Robertson, which took place at the Wellington Town Hall. Conducted by Jim Whitman, the interview spanned approximately two minutes and delved into a discussion regarding the progression of LGBTQIA+ rights and the optimism for their future in New Zealand. Throughout the interview, the parliamentarian expresses a belief in the kindness and fairness inherent to New Zealand’s populace but emphasizes the importance of continuous effort and vigilance in the advancement of rights for the LGBTQIA+ community. Various legislative changes that had been implemented, such as civil unions and modifications to relationship laws, are touched upon as incremental steps towards equality. Conversely, adoption laws are pointed out as a sphere necessitating thorough revision. It's highlighted that New Zealand's Adoption Act of 1957 is outdated, showing a stark contrast with contemporary practices where adoptions are open - a change that is not currently reflected in the law. The MP points out that the laws need updating to represent the diverse cultural and relationship practices in modern-day New Zealand, including provisions for same-sex couples. The representative also stresses that policies should prioritize the well-being of children, asserting that the suitability of potential parents to provide a loving and stable environment should not be contingent on their sexuality. Discussion of adoption law reveals the prime minister's stance in favor of granting adoption rights to gay couples, despite the lack of action to effect such a change. It is suggested that a complete overhaul of the adoption legislation is required to bring it in line with contemporary society and to inclusively accommodate same-sex couples. When asked about personal aspirations, the interviewee discloses a focus on re-election in the Wellington Central constituency, with a broader goal of influencing change from a governmental position. This answer underscores the belief that ministerial roles significantly contribute to societal advancement. The full transcription of the recording follows.  It includes timestamps every thirty seconds in the format [HH:MM:SS].  The transcription begins:  Aspirations for the future. Uh, me personally? Yeah. And also and also for lesbians, gays, bisexual, trisexual, intersex people. Oh, look, I mean, I think the journey as I mentioned the journey towards a full sense of equality is a very long road. But I think that's the journey we've got to undertake. And we have to take all the steps along that way. And now I outlined the kind of legislative changes that have come through in the last few years around things like civil unions and and relationship [00:00:30] issues and, uh, birth deaths and marriages and all those sorts of somewhat small things, some of them. But there are the steps we have to take along what is a very long road. I'm optimistic. I think New Zealand is a fair people. Um, I know that other countries that are represented here today have much further to run. But here in New Zealand, I think that you know, I'm optimistic. I do think New Zealand is a fair people, but we've got to be vigilant and we've got to keep working adoption that's about that's a very sensitive area. It certainly is. But [00:01:00] in the end, if we create a policy where Children are at the centre of the of that particular, uh, issue. Then I think we'll come up with the right decisions. Making sure that the decisions are based on the best interests of Children in the end shouldn't have very much to do in the end with with the with the sexuality of the people concerned, as long as they are creating a loving, stable environment for people. I think that's right. And actually, we're in a situation now where even the current prime minister has said he supports the rights of gay couples to adopt. He's just not doing anything about [00:01:30] it. It's a difficult one. But actually, to be honest, the question with adoption is much bigger than the rights of same sex couples. We have an adoption act written in 1957 when all adoptions were closed options. We fast forward to 2011. All adoptions in New Zealand are open adoptions and there's nothing in legislation about adoption. There's nothing in the legislation about traditional Pacific adoption family adoptions. So we need We need an overall change to to to the adoption, so that's a broad [00:02:00] swath of Cultural Day and and and relationships and the entire way that we do adoptions. There's only around about 50 to 70 adoptions done in New Zealand each year now, anyway. But it is important that we ensure that we we set them up and have whole law reflecting where we are in 2011, including for same sex couples. And what's your aspiration? Me personally? Oh, look, I I'm this year. I'm very focused on winning Wellington Central again and then having having hopefully achieved that, um, I'd like to think that we'll be in government. And, [00:02:30] you know, I think I think most people who go into politics or going to a central government politics want to be ministers because that's how you affect change. And so, you know, of course I want to do that. And then from there, we'll just take it one step at a time. I can't change that. The full transcription of the recording ends. A list of keywords/tags describing the recording follow. These tags contain the correct spellings of names and places which may have been incorrectly spelt earlier in the document. The tags are seperated by a semi-colon: 2010s ; Asia Pacific Outgames (2011) ; Grant Robertson ; Pacific ; People ; Wellington ; Wellington Town Hall ; actions ; adoption ; bisexual ; building ; change ; children ; civil unions ; conference ; diet ; environment ; equality ; family ; future ; gay ; government ; human rights ; intersex ; journey ; law ; legislation ; lesbian ; march ; other ; policy ; politics ; sex ; sexuality ; time ; unions. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/apog_grant_robertson.html. The master recording is also archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand.  For more details visit their website https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.1089473. Grant Robertson also features audibly in the following recordings: "Carmen Rupe memorial, Wellington", "Conference opening - AsiaPacific Outgames", "Grant Robertson - Rainbow Politicians", "Out in the Square (2013)", "Parliament: third reading of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill", "Parliament: third reading of the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill", "Wellington Pride Parade (2016)", "Part 2 - Opening ceremony at Parliament - Wellington Pride Festival 2016", "Dangerous Desires - Same Same But Different", "Solidarity with Orlando Candlelight Vigil - Wellington", "30th Anniversary of the Homosexual Law Reform Act", "Launch of Carmens traffic light", "Wellington Pride Parade 2017", "IDAHOBIT 2017", "International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (2017)", "Parliament: first reading of the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill", "Rainbow Election Forum 2017", "Opening of Wellington International Pride Parade (2018)", "Wellington International Pride Parade 2018", "Parliament: second reading of the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill", "Wellington International Pride Parade 2019", "Re-opening of the Rainbow Room at Parliament", "Launch of the Rainbow Crossing in Wellington", "Wellington International Pride Parade 2020", "International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (2014)", "Out in the City (2021)", "Unveiling of the memorial seats for Chrissy Witoko and Carmen Rupe", "AIDS Candlelight Tribute", "AIDS Candlelight Tribute (video)", "The Life and Times of Georgina Beyer", "Charles Allan Aberhart memorial", "Charles Allan Aberhart memorial - interviews", "Grant Robertson and co", "Grant Robertson - on his retirement as an MP", "Grant Robertson - Maiden Speech (9 December 2008)", "Kāpiti Gay PrideNZ 2020 retrospective" and "Kāpiti Gay PrideNZ 2024 retrospective". Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.