Government open over civil union bill

By HELEN TUNNAH and NZPA

The Government may drop plans to let married people skip divorce and convert their vows to a civil union after critics attacked the contentious Civil Union Bill.

Associate Justice Minister David Benson-Pope said yesterday that he did not think many people would want to switch from marriage to a civil union, but he would not "die in a ditch" over it.

The clause has already been labelled as an erosion of marriage by the bill's opponents, including church groups and National MP Judith Collins.

The bill, which MPs vote on next week for the first time, allows same-sex and heterosexual couples to "tie the knot" through a civil union rather than marriage.

A second new law will give civil union and de facto couples full legal recognition.

Same-sex couples will not be allowed to marry.

But one change would let husbands and wives convert their marriage to a civil union without having to go through the legal procedures of divorce, and vice versa.

Mr Benson-Pope said yesterday that seemed sensible, but if public opinion opposed the provision he was comfortable about it being removed, meaning couples would need to dissolve civil unions and marriages before switching.

Mrs Collins said that still would not make her support the legislation.

She said she also had reservations about gay Labour MP Tim Barnett, a key advocate throughout the law's development, chairing the select committee's public hearings on both the Civil Union Bill and its companion, the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill, if they pass their first readings on Thursday.

She said in this case his deputy, Act MP Stephen Franks, should take over.

Mr Benson-Pope yesterday defended Mr Barnett's integrity, but then admitted the Government had already considered taking the unusual step of setting up a special select committee to scrutinise the two bills.

Mr Barnett said Parliament had yet to decide which select committee would consider the bill.

Whichever it was, he said, each MP involved would be looking at the issue with a political bias, "which, I suppose, is the nature of the political process".

He said the role of a committee chairman was to ensure legislation was carefully examined, and colleagues on the committee would be quick to complain if that was done unfairly.

Mr Barnett added that a committee chairman was one of 11 MPs on a committee and did not have a casting vote.