- Civil union in New Zealand
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Listings by countryLGBT portal Civil union has been legal in New Zealand since 26 April 2005. The Civil Union Act to establish the institution of civil union for same-sex and opposite-sex couples was passed by the Parliament on 9 December 2004.[1][2] The Act has been described as very similar to the Marriage Act with references to "marriage" replaced by "civil union". A companion bill, the Relationships (Statutory References) Act, was passed shortly thereafter on 15 March 2005, to remove discriminatory provisions on the basis of relationship status from a range of statutes and regulations. As a result of these bills, all couples in New Zealand, whether married, in a civil union, or in a de facto partnership, now generally enjoy the same rights and undertake the same obligations. These rights extend to immigration, next-of-kin status, social welfare, matrimonial property and other areas. Non-married couples are not however permitted to adopt children, although people in non-marital relationships can adopt as individuals.[3]
Contents
History
Both the Civil Union Bill and the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill were promoted as part of their Ministerial responsibilities by the Labour MPs and Ministers David Benson-Pope and Lianne Dalziel. The Civil Union Bill was treated as a conscience issue by most parties, including the largest parties on the left and right, and passed its third and final reading by 65 votes to 55. The table below shows the breakdown of votes by party for the final reading of the Bill. (see also: Searchable database of individual votes on bill, and Relationships (Statutory References)).
Party Voted For Voted Against Labour Party 45 6 National Party 3 24 New Zealand First 1 12 ACT 5 4 Green Party 9 0 United Future 0 8 Progressive Party 2 0 Maori Party 0 1 Totals 65 55 During consideration of the bill, various amendments were proposed. These included making the issue subject to a binding referendum, (a motion moved by New Zealand First MP Ron Mark who voted for the first two readings of the Bill, but against in its final vote). Another was to replace it with a "civil relationships" bill that would allow any two people to register any personal relationship and to gain joint property rights (moved by National MP Richard Worth, a consistent opponent of the bill). These proposals were dismissed by supporters of the bill as delaying tactics rather than serious proposals and were defeated in Parliament by a block vote of Labour, the Greens, and the Progressives.
The Relationships (Statutory References) Bill was also treated as a conscience vote and passed by 76 votes to 44 votes. Civil Unions came into effect on 26 April 2005 and at least two couples had applied for licenses by 9:30 that morning.
Public opinion
Before passage, the New Zealand public narrowly supported the bill, with opinion polls indicating around 56 per cent in favour.[citation needed] The bill was controversial in some quarters, attracting strong opposition from the evangelical Destiny Church and the Catholic Church in New Zealand. However, not all Christians were opposed to the Bill. Christians for Civil Unions played a role in the debates[4] along with other Christian groups including the Student Christian Movement.[5]
In the build up to the vote, there were several instances of anti-gay and lesbian protests and rallies as a way of dissuading public favour. The most publicised rally was the 'Enough is Enough' march through central Wellington, terminating at Parliament, in August 2004. The march was organised by the Brian Tamaki-led Destiny Church and involved thousands of church members and supporters, many wearing black shirts, marching down Lambton Quay punching the air with their fists and chanting 'enough is enough'. Also present on this march were members of the Christian Heritage Party and white supremacist group National Front.
Other protest action saw a theology student cover the windows of David Benson-Pope's South Dunedin electoral office with posters denouncing the bill. These bore the message 'Civil Unions Is [sic]Not Gay Marriage. Yeah Right' in a parody of Tui beer advertisements. Three months after the Civil Union Act came into effect, a Herald-DigiPoll survey revealed that a plurality of people who expressed an opinion either way were happy with the legislation. When asked "whether they were happy or unhappy with the way the law allowing civil unions is working," 46% said they were happy, 35.7% were unhappy, and 18.1% were undecided or refused to comment.[6]
Conservative Christian pressure groups like Family First New Zealand have questioned the apparent low uptake of civil unions.[7] LGBT organisations respond that this criticism is unfounded because there are far fewer divorces after incompatible civil unions than is the case with heterosexual-only marriages, particularly amongst Southern US fundamentalist Christians, who tend to have a higher than average divorce rate.[8] This suggests that those LGBT community members and heterosexuals who enter civil unions engage in more prior deliberation beforehand than those who enter heterosexual marriages.
Numbers
A civil union ceremony in Wellington, late 2006.
At the end of 2010, 1903 civil unions were registered to New Zealand residents. These comprised 1499 same-sex unions and 400 opposite-sex unions. There were four transfers to a civil union from marriage. In addition, 311 civil unions were registered to overseas residents. 51 civil unions had been dissolved. 10 civil unions were transfers to a marriage from a civil union.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
See also
- Same-sex marriage in New Zealand
- LGBT rights in New Zealand
- LGBT in New Zealand
- Property (Relationships) Act
References
- ^ Civil Union Act 2004
- ^ "Civil Unions Bill passed". The New Zealand Herald. 9 December 2004. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=9002456. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Judge: Time to let gay couples adopt". The New Zealand Herald. 20 August 2009. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10591948. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
- ^ "Christians support Civil Unions Bill". Scoop. 16 June 2004. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0406/S00157.htm.
- ^ "Student Christian Movement submission on the Civil Union bill". http://www.scm.org.nz/go/70.
- ^ "Majority happy with civil union, prostitution laws". NZ Herald. 1 July 2005. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=247&objectid=10333649.
- ^ Civil Unions Irrelevant Five Years On
- ^ U.S. divorce rates for various faith groups, age groups, & geographic areas
- ^ Marriages, Civil Unions, and Divorces: Year ended December 2005
- ^ Marriages, Civil Unions, and Divorces: Year ended December 2006
- ^ Marriages, Civil Unions, and Divorces: Year ended December 2007
- ^ Marriages, Civil Unions, and Divorces: Year ended December 2008
- ^ Marriages, Civil Unions, and Divorces: Year ended December 2009
- ^ Marriages, Civil Unions, and Divorces: Year ended December 2010
External links
- Civil Union Bill & Relationships (Statutory References) Bill
- Parliamentary Counsel Office - text of the Civil Union Act 2004
- Campaign for Civil Unions - an organisation promoting civil unions
Categories:- New Zealand law
- Politics of New Zealand
- LGBT rights in New Zealand
- Civil unions and partnerships by country
- Recognition of same-sex relationships by country
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