Smith Murray: Relationships (Statutory References) Bill — In Committee 
Smith Murray: Relationships (Statutory References) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:624;Page:19075] 
MURRAY SMITH (United Future) 
: 
 Well well well the ink is hardly dry on the Civil Union Act—the regulations have not yet been promulgated—and the next stage of the homosexual rights agenda is before us in the form of the proposed amendment by the Green Party which wants to legislate to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. That was the prediction. In my minority report on the Civil Union Bill I said that it was but the beginning of the agenda there was more to come yet. I predicted that it would not be very long before the ban on same-sex couples converting from a civil union to a marriage would be removed. Here we have yet another issue—same-sex adoption. 
Classically we see here that the Green Party is trying to pre-empt the agenda of the left in order to provide for same-sex adoption by civil union partners for which we can read “same-sex partners”. That was predicted and it is happening already. I am surprised that it has happened so soon because the people who have been promoting the Civil Union Act and the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill have been very subtle in the way that they have advanced their cause—“incremental” is the word that gets used. So the promoters of this legislation included heterosexual couples as being eligible for civil unions because they thought that was more palatable and they did not provide for same-sex marriage per se because they did not think that would be acceptable. Instead we got this Clayton’s same-sex marriage called civil union. 
But the Greens are jumping the gun so before the ink is dry on the Civil Union Act and before we have even passed this bill we have the issue of same-sex adoption in our faces. In fact what I have learnt through this process is that there is nothing in law that prevents same-sex adoption. It is a matter of policy. So it is a matter of Government policy as to whether same-sex couples are allowed to adopt. The Greens in this amendment that would amend the Adoption Act state: “adoptive parent means any parent who adopts a child in accordance with an adoption order; and in the case of an order made in favour of a husband and wife or of civil union partners on their joint application means both the husband and wife or civil union partners but does not include a spouse or partner who merely consents to an adoption”. What the Greens are asking for is to codify in law that it is quite acceptable and indeed to be encouraged as being of equal status for civil union partners—namely same-sex partners—to jointly adopt children. 
There is something that those 5500 submitters who opposed the Civil Union Act and this bill—which we should continue to remind ourselves is 94 percent of submitters—ought to be very very aware of. It is this: if as the current polling seems to indicate the Labour Party will be the largest party after the next election there will be a stark choice to be made. Either the Green Party will be the party to support Labour or United Future will be the party to support Labour. If the Green Party and Labour get together I will bet my bottom dollar that legislating for same-sex adoption will be at the top of the Government’s list of priorities. That will be one of the things that will be moved very quickly. It will happen by lunchtime. I can guarantee that. But I can also guarantee that if Labour and United Future are providing the majority Government in this House after the election there will be no same-sex adoption. Here is the reason: we believe that both mothers and fathers are necessary for the effective raising of children. We believe that two mothers and two fathers do not provide the same level of stability and the same environment that children need for a nurturing upbringing. 
In my second reading speech I referred to statistics that clearly show that a child needs a mother and a father. Children need a male input into their lives and they need a female input into their lives by their parents and preferably by their natural parents. That is why we would be opposed to something that would allow children to be adopted by same-sex couples or even by single people because clearly the statistics also show that children who are brought up in those environments do less well on all social indices. That is not to condemn those solo parents who are faced with bringing up a child. We know that is a struggle. But even they would admit that it is a struggle.