Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

AIDS Foundation continues to put pressure on Dunne

Fri, 09 Aug 2002

AIDS Foundation continues to put pressure on Dunne.

AIDS Foundation Executive Director Kevin Hague today explicitly rejected the response of Peter Dunne to the call to “come clean” about the beliefs and affiliations of his new MPs.

The call was made following revelations that seven of the eight new MPs, the United Future President and the party’s Deputy Leader have strong ties to the Christian Right.

“Peter Dunne has called the demand that he reveal more about the backgrounds of his MPs “pathetic” and “trawling for muck ”. In fact this is an issue where the public has a genuine right to know and Dunne’s refusal to front up is worrying for our democracy.”

Mr. Hague noted that Peter Dunne had also failed to respond in any substantive way to revelations by former United Party members of a near complete takeover of the party by Christian fundamentalists.

“Mr Dunne is also continuing to suggest that the comments by his MPs causing concern are historical in nature. In fact Paul Adams’ call to “identify” people living with HIV and Larry Baldock’s call to reconsider the Family Planning Association’s funding have been made in the last three days. And last night Anthony Walton also made it clear on television that abortion law reform was also on their agenda.”

Mr. Hague said it is vitally important for everyone to understand that this was not an attack on Christian people or their right to hold personal beliefs or their right to enter Parliament.

“However, when people choose to enter politics to advance their religious views in that forum, then their religious views become matters of legitimate political concern for all New Zealanders.”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“At heart this is an issue of transparency and openness with the public about your real policy intentions.”

“ We are deeply concerned that these people have already got into a position of some influence over Government policy without the extent to which their religious beliefs will directly determine their voting stance on a great number of issues of public importance being given any scrutiny at all”.

“In other words , that they got into Parliament on the pretext of being centrist and moderate, when in fact several members of the United Future caucus apparently have policy goals very similar to those that were put to voters by the Christian Coalition in 1996.”

Mr. Hague is now calling on Peter Dunne to explain how his caucus decision making process will work, given that most of his MPs are from the successor to the Christian Democratic party of Graeme Lee .

“Right now, it looks from the outside as if Peter “common sense” Dunne is likely to get rolled every time an issue arises that is a touchstone for the religious right - like the definition of family, for example.”

Ends


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More


 
 
ACT: Call To Abolish Human Rights Commission

“The Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second Chief Executive is just the latest example of a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy serving itself at the expense of delivery for New Zealanders,” says ACT MP Todd Stephenson. More


Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.