Smith Murray: Relationships (Statutory References) Bill — In Committee 
Smith Murray: Relationships (Statutory References) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:624;Page:19125] 
MURRAY SMITH (United Future) 
: 
 I want to refer to clause 2 and in particular to the commencement date of this bill. We know that the commencement date is a rushed one. It was rushed because the Civil Union Act was coming into force on that date and even then that date was rushed. When we talked to advisers and to Labour members at the Justice and Electoral Committee we heard that they were trying to advocate a date as early as 26 April and they would have liked it even earlier. There was some consternation among officials because of the amount of work that had to be done after the Civil Union Bill was passed in order to get regulations forms and everything else in place. They would have much preferred a date of 1 July for its commencement which would have given them a bit more time. 
However the Government was clearly anxious to get the Civil Union Bill through because of this year’s election. It knew that a 1 July date for the commencement of the Civil Union Act—and for gay marriages which effectively they are to come into force—would have been acutely embarrassing. The Government’s fond hope in this regard is that the extra couple of months will help New Zealanders to forget will give a little more time for things to pass over will allow the country to become accustomed to this new move and will not impact on Labour’s chances in the election. 
So we have this bill as well with the commencement date of 26 April because it has to dovetail with the Civil Union Act’s coming into force. That means we have a period of only 6 weeks in which officials have to get their regulations into force change forms and get everything prepared for that eventuality. It is a panic time; it is rushed; but that is the reason for it. 
However I think the New Zealand public are much more wary than that and I think their memories are a little bit longer than a period of just a few months. I have no doubt whatsoever that come this election the passing of the Civil Union Bill and the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill will be very much in the minds of the voting public. Mark my words: the Civil Union Act and this bill will reverberate all the way to the election and beyond. 
Moreover the fact that this is happening on 26 April allows 3 days according to officials in which to process licence applications for civil unions so we are looking at Saturday 30 April as being D-day—the day when there will be a mass of civil unions. We have yet to see how many homosexual marriages there will be on that day but there will undoubtedly be quite a number. 
 The fact that 30 April is coming is probably the best insurance we have against an early election. No doubt the Government will want the dust to settle and the date for the election to be prolonged so that it is as far away as possible from the embarrassing day it will face on 30 April when Television One and TV3 are present at the ceremonies of a number of homosexual couples getting married. But mark my words this bill will reverberate and it will count against the Labour Government. 
Senior priests of the Catholic Church talked to us at the select committee and said that the church had traditionally been a strong supporter of Labour. But they said that Labour could now no longer count on its support. That is how serious they saw this move. I talked to an Anglican archdeacon who said to me—and I was quite taken aback with the strength of his comments—that as far as he and a number of his colleagues were concerned the Civil Union Act was a direct attack on the sovereignty of God. That is the strength of feeling out there among those church communities which represent quite large constituencies that in the past have been strong Labour supporters. The evangelical Christian communities many of whom have been supportive of Labour because of its social justice policies are also turning against this Labour Government because of this and other legislation that has been passed such as the prostitution law reform legislation and because of other things that Labour has brought about. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: None of them will save this member. He’s gone. 
MURRAY SMITH 
: The member for Hutt South may well complain about that. I know that he is a strong supporter of those bills. I look forward to challenging him in Hutt South because I am sure that we will have some very good debates during the campaign about his track record on this issue and my track record on it. I look forward to strong support in Hutt South as a result of that.