Party Leader Graham Capill described the Government’s debate and subsequent vote on introducing property rights for de facto and homosexual couples as “signing a blank cheque for changing the nature of marriage”.

Mr Capill said, “I am appalled that politicians were forced to sign up to a general concept without seeing the details and considering the serious ramifications such changes will undoubtedly have on marriage.

“The Labour-Alliance Government flew a kite last night to test how each Member would vote, under a conscience vote, on the next stage in the homosexual agenda. While the Government may take comfort that its agenda may succeed, every New Zealander should soberly reflect on what it will mean for family life.

“The Government loves to bandy around terms such as “discrimination” and “homophobia” which are emotive words designed to prevent open debate. The fact is that there cannot be discrimination when 200,000 couples freely chose to enter these relationships knowing the terms of agreement. It is discrimination to change the terms for such relationships and force thousands of couples to seek legal advice on opting out of a regime they did not know about when they entered the relationship.”

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Mr Capill said, “The institution of marriage has been sacrosanct for centuries. This government is proposing to undermine family life by effectively rewriting the definition of marriage, and without even waiting for the findings of the Justice Department’s Discussion Paper. It is dictatorial and extremely ill-advised.

“Even some homosexual couples and de facto couples themselves do not want marriage; that is precisely why they have opted for a different kind of relationship. That they should be automatically included in the matrimonial property regime may be administratively tidy, but conceptually muddies the water.

“Marriage has reached a low ebb, with fewer and fewer couples being committed to each other for life. To devalue it further by giving some of its privileges to other types of relationships, will remove yet another reason to get married and stay married.”

Christian Heritage believes the government should be strengthening marriage by creating more incentives to get married and stay married. It was to these ends that the Christian Heritage Party campaigned for a Home Carers’ Allowance and income splitting for married couples. Children would then benefit from greater input from both a mother and a father (not two males or two females), as well as reap the benefits of a stable home; something which de facto couples have never been able to offer.

“As Russians found out in the late 1920’s, society cannot undermine family life without grave consequences. What a nation sows, that it will also reap. These initiatives will be detrimental to children and will ultimately result in social chaos, undermining the very fabric of a stable society,” Mr Capill concluded.

ENDS

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