Common-sense has prevailed over political correctness with a Select Committee recommending changes to the Government's 'relationship neutral' proposals for the Matrimonial Property Amendment Bill, National Women's Affairs spokesperson Anne Tolley said today.

The Justice and Electoral Select Committee has tabled its report on the Matrimonial Property Amendment Bill and Supplementary Order Paper with a recommendation that the words 'spouse', 'husband', 'wife' and 'marriage' be reinserted into the SOP.

"Although the most controversial sections of the Bill remain, this is a victory for the more than 3,650 New Zealanders who signed petitions calling for the words 'spouse', 'husband', 'wife' and 'marriage' to be reinserted into the legislation. Of the 1,550 submissions received by the select committee, 1,250 opposed the Government's proposals in this Bill.

"Professor Wilson was forced to back down on the marriage issue after pressure from the public. She didn't even want to let the select committee consider her changes; she wanted to ram them through Parliament with no consultation.

"Many New Zealanders will be happy that their marriage will still be recognised by this bill. The left-wing PC crowd has lost.

"Our Prime Minister couldn't understand what all the fuss was about but her PC views were also rolled. A quote from Miss Clark in 1986 shows her mindset on this issue: 'I think legal marriage is unnecessary and I would not have formalised the relationship (with Peter Davis with whom she had been living for five years) except for going into parliament'.

"There are still major problems with the legislation that I believe will be to the detriment of women, and National will be highlighting these again when we debate the Bill in Parliament," Mrs Tolley said.

Ends

For background information and previous statements visit our website: www.fairsplit.org.nz

A printable formatted copy of this press release will be available on http://www.national.org.nz along with an archive of previous releases.

© Scoop Media