NZ Newswire 27 July 2012
Prime Minister John Key and Labour leader David Shearer have confirmed they will support the gay marriage bill on its first reading, but most MPs are keeping their views to themselves. Only the Green Party has decided all its 14 MPs will support the bill, while National and Labour will let their members cast conscience votes without any instructions. Some MPs and ministers were saying on Thursday they wanted to see the bill – which is a very simple piece of legislation – while others told reporters they hadn’t yet thought about gay marriage… The only similar legislation that has been debated and voted on in parliament is the Civil Union Act, which was passed by 65 votes to 55 in 2004. Of those 120 MPs, only 31 are still in parliament.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/14379360/mps-reluctant-to-commit-on-gay-marriage/
MPs reluctant to commit on gay marriage
