De facto relationships should have protection and property rights equivalent to married partners, Alliance women's affairs spokesperson Phillida Bunkle said today.

'The Alliance is proposing a comprehensive review of the Matrimonial Property Act to complete the one which has been shelved under this government.'

The policy is part of the Alliance's women's policy which will be launched on Sunday 19th September in Wellington.

'Recognition of de-facto relationships in New Zealand is long over-due.

'It's only fair that partners who share the financial costs of running a home and a family should receive protection and property rights equivalent to those of married partners.

'Any review of the Act needs also to look at the legal status of elderly siblings and family members who share a home for many years, as well as the legal status of same-sex relationships.

'New Zealand society has changed substantially since the Matrimonial Property Act was first introduced. It's time the law caught up,' said Phillida Bunkle.

Yesterday Phillida Bunkle announced another component of the policy, a comprehensive plan to combat violence, particularly against women.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>