LAst weekend, several party leaders attended the great fundamentalist conclave known as the annual “Forum on the Family”, attended by numerous fundamentalist pressure group representatives.

So, did the party leaders say anything significant? Wisely, John Key carefully chose his words. No, said Key, Rodney Hide and Peter Dunne, civil unions would not be repealed in the imminent future. So far so good. In his speech proper, there was little reference to Christian Right concerns other than Section 59 Repeal. Key stated that he preferred the status quo over abortion, as well.

However, Colin Espiner and Michael Field reported that in the subsequent question and answer session, much more was also said. It is old hat that John Key and the National Party want to dismantle the Families Commission. However, Key also said that he’d give the money to ‘community based organisations and church groups.’ Even worse, he stated Ian and Mary Grant’s Parents Inc was one organisation that he particularly admired, and that it didn’t get money because it was a (fundamentalist) Christian-based group.

Let’s have a look at Parents Inc’s track record to see why we should feel uneasy at that little statement. Remember, Mary Grant was involved in “Campaign for our Children” in the mid-nineties, which opposed the Hero Parade and dance party. As for Ian Grant, he featured as a panelist at an Auckland meeting opposed to the passage of the Civil Union Bill, and was also a signatory to John Sax’ inflammatory letter to Parliament urging them not to pass the Civil Union Act at the last moment, which incorporated junk science claims from discredited US Christian Right ’social scientist” Paul Cameron. If  Labour is ‘uneasy’ about that sort of track record, then it is commendable that it be so.  Ian may be a fundamentalist pop parenting guru, but he’s still a fundamentalist.

Added to which, I finally had the chance to do some digging when it came to the National Party list. I found that there were three new National Party fundamentalist candidates- Sam Lotu’ Liga (Maungakiekie/List No 35) attends the Greenlane Christian Centre. Much lower down the list are Ravi Musuku (Mangere/List No. 65), minister at the Hillsborough Baptist Church, and Jonathon Young (New Plymouth/List No. 66), previously City Church Waitakere senior minister. Exactly when was the National Party planning to tell us about the above?

Granted, it would take an extraordinary swing to get Musuku and Young into Parliament on its list, but the same cannot be said about Sam Lotu’Liga. Remember, Greenlane Christian Centre was stated to be the first stop for the Maxim Institute’s nzvotes candidate road show. Moreover, I see that its female outreach also hosted two former Maxim Institute staffers at a seminar earlier this month. 

And why is Chris Finlayson still the only lesbian or gay man anywhere in their caucus? The British Conservative Party has done much better in that regard.

Recommended:

Gilbert Wong: “The Moralist” Metro 293 (November 2005): 66-69

Colin Espiner and Michael Field “Nats to give cash from family body to churches ” Stuff.co.nz: 10.09.08: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4685704a6160.html