Louisa Wall

Kevin Hague blogs about the words both for and against marriage equality that he received in correspondence.

The debate over Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill has been raging for almost a year now, and I have received thousands of emails and letters, as well as having read many thousands of submissions during the Select Committee process…

We looked for a graphic way of representing this contrast, and used a “sample” of all the correspondence that arrived in my office over a particular time to create word clouds. It’s not science. It’s not discourse analysis. But it makes the point.  Read more »

Matt McCarten writes in the Herald on Sunday about marriage equality:

Inflicting marriage on gay couples is a foregone conclusion in this country and in other civilised secular countries.

Heh, everyone deserves a mother in law.

In the United States, 63 per cent of people now support same-sex marriages. Even the Mormon Church, which has funded large anti-gay marriage campaigns, has quietly given up its fight.

New Zealanders have always been more liberal than people in other countries. So it was a shock that two recent polls showed support for marriage equality was decreasing.

Supporters of MP Louisa Wall’s campaign for a law change blame the latest numbers on a late misinformation campaign organised by churches.

It won’t matter, it’s a done deal.  Read more »

Two events overnight have brought calamity of the human race just a little bit closer.

Last night in parliament the Same-Sex marriage bill passed its second reading:

Same-sex marriage inched another step closer late last night when MPs backed it overwhelmingly at the second hurdle, with only a handful of previous supporters turning against it.

Labour MP Louisa Wall’s bill passed its second reading 77-44, a drop in support of three votes from the first reading.

What I find interesting is the large number of hypocrites in the Noes. Plenty plus of them there like to run one up any bit of skirt they can find, so their definition of marriage is obviously different from that of Bob McCroskrie. More than a few also have their own ‘gay’ marriage…come on guys stop being sooks and blouses and how about swapping over to the ayes next time.

The second calamitous event is the election of the anti-Pope early this morning.

Cardinals have elected Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as the new pope to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pontiff in a remarkably fast conclave.

Bergoglio is the first ever pope to come from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He chose the name Pope Francis I.

Tens of thousands of people who braved cold rain to watch the smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel jumped in joy when white smoke poured out a few minutes past 7pm, many shouting “Habemus Papam!” – or “We have a pope!” – as the bells of St Peter’s Basilica and churches across Rome pealed.

The other day Kevin Hague had a guest post here, then yesterday Family First started peddling their latest lies about “gay marriage being rammed through parliament” in haste.

Their own pollster, David Farrar, pointed out the fallacy of their approach but it didn’t deter them from bombarding editors and journalists with press releases yesterday continue to push the lie….I say lie, because to do it once could have been a mistake but to continue to push it just makes it deliberate…and so it is a lie.

Kevin Hague then blogged pointing out their lies. It is a classic fisking:

I guess Family First is in a hard position. They really don’t want Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill to succeed but they’re faced with a situation where most New Zealanders support it, where it passed its First Reading with an emphatic majority, and where the Select Committee that heard submissions has given the Bill a ringing endorsement.

What makes it harder still for them is that the main argument they have previously used – scaremongering about restriction of religious freedom – has been nullified by the Select Committee’s unanimously agreed changes to the Bill which put it beyond doubt that churches will not be required to do or say anything different to what they do now.

So, it’s no surprise to see Family First stooping to desperate and irresponsible measures and amongst these have been a number of own goals.  Read more »

I’ve been thinking a fair bit about David Shearer’s leadership.

To my mind he is doomed. The much heralded and signalled…well required…leadership vote was held and afterwards Labour rather embarrassingly announced that David Shearer was endorsed as leader in a ballot that had only one candidate by “an overwhelming margin“.

That got me thinking and it got me scratching around my Labour sources…that didn’t sound right…”an overwhelming margin”…what does that even mean?

Then I was emailed by a reader who heard Katie Bradford-Crozier talking to Justin duFresne this morning on NewstalkZB. She said that int he leadership vote there were 10 abstentions.

This confirms what I have heard too from my Labour sources. Ten abstentions.  Read more »

The Creepy Conservative Creature from North Shore has had another brain fart. He’s kicked off his bigoted 2013 attention seeking campaign with a pearler this time, stating that society has a right to discriminate against gay relationships, not just marriage. What Colin Craig fails to realize (or accept) is that he is trying to slam the barn door shut well after the horse has bolted. Times have changed but cringeworthy Colin is still stuck in the stone age.

Read more »

The other day Family First and Bob McCoskrie made claims that if we allowed ‘gay marriage’ then the next thing that would be lobbied for would be polygamy and polyamorous relationships.

They claim this is the slippery slope, despite the slippery slope not existing anywhere in the world.

The MP behind a law change to legalise gay marriage has slammed the “dishonest” argument by opponents that her bill will pave the way to polygamous relationships.

Labour Party MP Louisa Wall said she was frustrated by the more extreme arguments against her bill, which had prompted her to release research showing that no country had legalised polygamous relationships after legalising gay marriage.

Ms Wall said the argument that allowing same-sex marriage would be a stepping stone to multiple partners was undermining an otherwise civilised and principled debate.

“Everyone has built an opposition based on a belief or a value … but for some to purposefully mislead not only the public, but to also scaremonger, is fundamentally dishonest,” she said.

It is fundamentally dishonest, because on this issue they are being fundamentally dishonest. The facts are plain.  Read more »

This years winners of the Whaleoil Awards are as follows:

Best Political Blog – apart from me…is Cactus Kate…by a nose from David Farrar.

I think this reflects that David Farrar has turned his blog into a an arts, travel and fitness blog and is focussing less on politics. While Cactus Kate blogs less often it is worth the wait.

Imperator Fish came a creditable third. But then I would say that because of my on-going man-crush thing with Scott.

Best Minister – Judith Collins

A resounding 52% of the vote.

Judith Collins has much to deal with this year, from the manufactured crisis of Bronwyn Pullar at ACC to David Bain’s ongoing PR blitz.

Read more »

Check out the PR brain on Louisa Wall:

The Labour MP behind the bid to legalise gay marriage expects the debate to divide grandparents and grandchildren.

With Labour MP Louisa Wall’s Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill tipped for a final reading in May, same-sex marriage could be passed into law next year.

Ms Wall said the bill [has] the potential to split families…

Read more »

The nominations are in, vote for the Best Back Bench MP.

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