With the only weeks to go till a historic vote, the New Zealand Parliament is zeroing in on passing marriage-equality legislation. A proposal by Labour Party MP Louisa Wall calls for an up-or-down vote on allowing same-sex couples to marry. She told the New Zealand Herald she was buoyed by Prime Minister John Key’s apparent support of the bill: “I don’t under-estimate the Prime Minister coming out really clearly and signalling to the rest of the country that we shouldn’t be afraid of having this discussion.”
Currently 54 of the 121 members of the legislature support the bill, with many backers from not just the liberal Labour Party but the GOP-like National Party.
Winston Peters, leader of the small-but-influential New Zealand First party, had initially signaled he may call for a national referendum: “Serious issues like this should be decided by the public of this country and not a few temporarily empowered politicians,” Peters told the Herald.
But New Zealand’s 3 News is reporting today that the 19-year-old NZF is abstaining from the vote, meaning the measure only needs 57 votes—or three more than it’s currently secured—to pass, making the reality of same-sex marriage far more likely.
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Go Kiwis!
Danny
New Zealand is a beautiful country; highly recommended going there on holiday if you are looking for an extraordinary place to explore.
Craig
The Nats aren’t quite as bad as the Republicans. They’re more akin to the British Conservatives under David Cameron at the moment.
jt
no! National is nothing like the GOP. the Prime Minister who is from National is an atheist. I can’t stand the slimy bastards but they are nothing like republicans. National is like half the democratic party.
We actually have 7 parties in parliament. Things are not as simple as black and white as americans like to view everything. The worst in my opinion is Act and even they aren’t as awful as most the republican party. The only thing comparable to the republicans in New Zealand would be the destiny church party which got laughed out of the public sphere and went bankrupt.