ACT Defeats Labour's PC Language Commissars

ACT New Zealand has this week saved the military from the Labour Government's strident PC brigade, Deputy Leader Ken Shirley said today.

"It was the Government's intention to purge the Defence Act of all words which they considered to be non-gender inclusive. For example, references to "airmen" were to read "airmen/airwomen". Similarly, "seamen" would become "seamen/seawomen". I'm not sure what they proposed for "cockpit".

"It was the Government's intention to include this PC nonsense in the Statutes Amendment Act 2002 - but only those items that are agreed by all political parties in parliament can be expedited using this mechanism. ACT New Zealand withheld its consent on this issue.

"The military did not seek or want these changes and, like all sensible people, realised that the "man" was derived from the Greek "manus" (by hand), as in "manual" and "manufacture". It is clear that the Defence Minister Mark Burton was "manipulated" by the strident feminists of the Labour caucus in this instance," Mr Shirley said.

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